Suchergebnisse

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted considerable impact on public mental health globally. With the pandemic rapidly rising in sub-Saharan Africa including Kenya, there is need to provide evidence to guide the mental health response in the region. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review is (1) to describe the mental health response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya, guided by the Mental Health Preparedness and Action Framework (2) to offer context specific recommendations for improvement of the mental health response in Kenya. Such information could be useful in decision-making in Kenya as well as in the greater sub-Saharan Africa region. METHODS: This narrative review is based on information obtained from official government documents released from 13th March 2020, the beginning of the pandemic in Kenya, up to 31st July 2020. DISCUSSION: The COVID-19 response in Kenya has no formal mental health response plan. There is an unmet need for psychological first aid in the community. While guidelines for the management of mental health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic have been prepared, implementation remains a major challenge due to a poorly resourced mental health system. There is no mental health surveillance system in place limiting ability to design evidence-based interventions. CONCLUSION: We propose four key strategies for strengthening the mental health response in order to mitigate the harmful impact of COVID-19 on public mental health in Kenya: (1) preparation of a formal mental health response plan specific to the COVID-19 pandemic with allocation of funding for the response (2) training of community health workers and community health volunteers on psychological first aid to enable access to support for those in need during the pandemic (3) scaling up of mobile health to increase access to care (4) conducting systematic and continuous text message surveys on the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to inform decision-making.

BACKGROUND: The burden of substance use disorders in sub-Saharan Africa has been projected to increase by an estimated 130% by 2050. Despite this, little is known about the substance use disorder treatment and prevention systems in the region. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review is to describe the public sector substance use disorder treatment and prevention systems in Kenya guided by the World Health Organization health systems framework model, with the aim of informing decision-making. METHODS: We reviewed official government documents obtained from hand-searching the websites of relevant governmental organizations including: Ministry of Health, National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Parliament of Kenya, Ministry of Treasury & National Planning, National Law Reporting Council, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the National Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Coordination Board and the 47 County Governments. We augmented those searches with official documents that the authors were aware of by virtue of being practitioners in the field. Draft and retired documents were excluded. The findings of the search are presented as a narrative review. DISCUSSION: The Mental Health Act 1989, the main legislative framework governing substance use disorder treatment and prevention, focuses on institutional care only. While there are only three public health facilities offering substance use disorder treatment in Kenya, several non-public sector actors are involved in SUD treatment and prevention activities. Unfortunately, there is limited cross-sector collaboration. The Ministry of Health has no specific budget for substance use disorder treatment and prevention, while the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse has an annual resource gap of about US$ 5,000,000. The substance use disorder workforce in Kenya has not been characterized. CONCLUSION: We propose five key strategies for strengthening substance use disorder treatment and prevention systems in Kenya ...

BACKGROUND: Substance use disorders are a major problem in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. The objective of this study was to describe the existing resources within substance use treatment facilities in the County, with the aim of guiding policy and interventions. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. We collected data from six substance use treatment facilities within Uasin Gishu County between August and November 2021. We used a researcher-designed questionnaire to collect information on: availability of in-patient and out-patient services; facility ownership (private-for-profit vs government-run); bed capacity; mode of payment for services; cost of services; availability of medicines for substance use treatment; and staffing characteristics. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. RESULTS: One facility was run by the National government and the rest were private-for-profit. Uasin Gishu County government had no substance use treatment facility of its own. The total number of beds available within the six facilities was 174 against a population of 1.1 million. All six facilities had stocked at least one medication for substance use disorder treatment. None of the facilities had buprenorphine, buprenorphine naloxone, or methadone. Out-of pocket was the most common mode of payment for services with patients paying using this mode in all the six facilities. Only one facility was accredited by the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). All facilities had at least one certified addiction counselor and at least one psychologist. Half of the facilities did not have a nurse and two did not have a doctor. The qualification held by most staff was addiction counseling with 41.3% of them having achieved this qualification. CONCLUSION: The facilities were well staffed with psychologists and addiction counselors. Gaps were found as regards bed capacity, use of pharmacotherapy, insurance coverage and availability of nursing staff and doctors. We recommend that the County government in collaboration with key ...