The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Contributions from the Humanities

It is widely agreed that achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals requires the insights, knowledge and comparative perspectives of Humanities disciplines. The UNESCO Hangzhou Declaration of 2013 highlighted the importance of culture as ‘an enabler and driver of sustainable development’. Yet the Humanities have so far featured relatively little in work on the SDGs

Supporting community-based mental health initiatives: insights from a multi-country programme and recommendations for funders.

Community-based mental health initiatives are uniquely positioned to understand the mental health needs of their local population and provide relevant, culturally appropriate and sustainable responses. However, at the grassroots level, mental health initiatives in low- and middle-income countries face key challenges, such as inadequate funding, barriers to demonstrating impact and difficulty engaging with stakeholders. The Ember Mental Health programme establishes 12-month partnerships with community-based mental health initiatives in low- and middle-income countries to support them to address these challenges, grow and achieve sustainability. This paper outlines a longitudinal qualitative study conducted to evaluate the 2020-2021 Ember Mental Health programme. Data were collected from March 2020 to March 2021 through semistructured interviews conducted with 11 initiatives at various time points throughout their Ember Mental Health partnership. A framework approach was used to analyse all data in its original language. Findings indicated that initiatives particularly benefited from provision of side-by-side mentorship; opportunities for skills strengthening and strategic thinking; occasions to network with other like-minded initiatives and/or experts in global mental health; and support on team empowerment and well-being. Based on these findings, we put forward various recommendations for funders and other stakeholders working to support community-based mental health initiatives in low- and middle-income countries. Through establishing collaborative partnerships that challenge more top-down, traditional funder-grantee relationships, it is possible to support the rich ecosystem of initiatives working to address the mental health needs of communities

Khuluma : using participatory, peer-led and digital methods to deliver psychosocial support to young people living with HIV in South Africa

Khuluma is a psychosocial and peer-to-peer mHealth intervention that uses text messaging to facilitate support groups for adolescents living with HIV (ALWH) with the aim of contributing toward positive health outcomes. Although use of mobile technology in the form of mHealth interventions has proliferated recently in the field of health, published literature describing methods and processes of its application are limited. We present a set of methods and processes utilised to develop and pilot the Khuluma mHealth intervention amongst young people (15–20 years) in South Africa. We recruited and enrolled 52 adolescents (15–20-year olds) from four clinics in Pretoria and Cape Town to participate in a 6-month pilot of Khuluma. Participants were ALWH, aware of their status, on antiretroviral therapy for more than 12 months, and not suffering from severe depression. We conducted four pre and post intervention focus group discussions (FGDs) with a proportion of ALWH (n = 36) enrolled in the pilot study using participatory methods. Several processes were utilised to then implement this pilot study. These included engaging ALWH for minor study implementation modifications; forming virtual groups; activating the mHealth platform; facilitating and delivering the Khuluma intervention. The acceptability of the intervention was informed by follow-up focus group discussions and text message data. The initial participatory processes helped to tailor the intervention design to participants’ needs. The peer-led facilitation of the groups allowed for the provision of sensitive psychosocial support that allowed young people to express themselves freely, develop a sense of self-worth, and interact more. The nature of themobile technology also allowed participants to build friendships beyond their geographic area and interact with their peers in real time. Within the evolving context of COVID-19, establishing evidence-based processes and methods for intervention design and curation in virtual spaces is critical.SHM Foundation. Text messages were donated by Vodacom SA.https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/reproductive-health#am2022Psycholog

Insaka: mobile phone support groups for adolescent pregnant women living with HIV

Background: Mobile phone-based interventions have been demonstrated in different settings to overcome barriers to accessing critical psychosocial support. In this study, we aimed to assess the acceptability and feasibility of a phone-based, peer-to-peer support group intervention for adolescent pregnant women aged 15–24 years living with HIV in Zambia. Methods: Sixty-one consenting participants were recruited from Antenatal Clinics of two large urban communities in Lusaka. They were invited to participate in the mobile phone-based intervention that allowed them to anonymously communicate in a small group led by a facilitator for 4 months. A mixed methods approach was used to assess acceptability and feasibility, including a focus group discussion, pre- and post-intervention interview and analysis of the content of the text message data generated. Results: Participants reported finding the platform “not hard to use” and enjoyed the anonymity of the groups. Seventy-one percent of participants (n = 43) participated in the groups, meaning they sent text messages to their groups. Approximately 12,000 text messages were sent by participants (an average of 169 messages/user and 6 mentors in 6 groups. Topics discussed were related to social support and relationships, stigma, HIV knowledge and medication adherence. Conclusion: The study showed that the intervention was acceptable and feasible, and highlighted the potential of the model for overcoming existing barriers to provision of psychosocial support to this population