Youth and professional perspectives of mental health resources across eight countries

Introduction: Youth mental health support and services vary across sociocultural contexts. It is important to capture the perspectives of youth with lived experiences for planning needs-led interventions and services, especially in Global South Countries (GSC), with limited specialist resources and representative literature. Methods: The aim was to establish how youth with lived experiences of anxiety and depression viewed external support in different countries, and how these views were juxtaposed with those of professionals. We involved 121 youth aged 14–24 years and 62 professionals from different disciplines in eight countries, predominantly from the Global South. Two youth and one professional focus group was facilitated in each country. The data were analysed through a codebook thematic approach. Results: Youth across all countries largely valued informal support from family, peers and community, whilst those from GSC had limited access to structural support. They related lived experiences to therapeutic engagement and processes, in contrast with professionals who focused on outcomes and service delivery. Mental health awareness and integration of interventions with social support were considered essential by both youth and professionals, especially in disadvantaged communities. Conclusion: The mental health needs of youth in disadvantaged GSC communities can be best met through multi-modal interventions addressing these needs across their socioecology and positioned within a stepped care model. Youth with lived experiences should be involved in service planning, implementation and monitoring

The impact of farming on river banks on water quality of the rivers

A study was carried out in a strip of a river in the dry and rainy seasons to assess the effect of farming along river banks on the quality of water in rivers. The results showed that there was an increase in the concentration of nitrate in the water downstream in both the rainy and dry seasons. In both rainy and dry seasons, the total nitrogen in the soil was highest (p<0.01) in the middle section. Significant seasonal differences (p<0.01) were observed for phosphate in water, being higher in the dry season. In the soil, the concentration of phosphate showed significant sectional differences (p<0.01) in the rainy season with the highest concentration observed in the lower section (1.74±0.01mg/l) and the least in the upper section (1.02±0.01g/l). However, in the dry season, the highest concentration was obtained in the middle section (1.69±0.01mg/l) and the least in the upper section (1.15±0.02 mg/l). The results suggest that the farms along the riverbanks have an impact on the water quality of the water in the river. It is therefore recommended that there should be close monitoring of the activities of the farms on riverbanks to minimise their impacts on the natural ecosystems that they interact with. Frequent monitoring of the water quality in the rivers relative to the farming estates should be done