Mental health training for health workers in Africa: a systematic review

The Lancet. Psychiatry
Germaine LiuMelanie Abas

Abstract

Commitment to building mental health treatment capacity in Africa is increasing but little agreement exists on strategies to train health workers on mental health or evaluation of training efforts. We systematically reviewed published literature on interventions to train health-care workers in Africa on mental health. 37 studies met our inclusion criteria. Training outcomes focused on changes in knowledge and attitude, with few studies evaluating skill and practice and only two studies measuring clinical outcomes. Quality of study methodology was generally not high, with scarce follow-up data and use of control cohorts. Existing studies provide examples of many training and evaluation strategies, but evidence to draw conclusions about the efficacy of different training techniques is inadequate. Key knowledge gaps include development and testing of innovative educational strategies; development of standardised, competency-based learning objectives and outcome measures; and training that facilitates implementation of integrated mental health systems. African institutions need to be empowered to do research in these areas to encourage the development of best practices for the continent.

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Citations

Mar 8, 2017·Autism Research : Official Journal of the International Society for Autism Research·Lauren FranzPetrus J de Vries
Sep 26, 2017·Autism : the International Journal of Research and Practice·Dejene TilahunRosa A Hoekstra
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Sep 28, 2017·Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health·Tanya van de WaterSoraya Seedat
Mar 8, 2019·African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine·Sally FieldSimone Honikman
Jun 27, 2018·African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine·Lucy MaconickHermann Reuter
Dec 10, 2020·International Journal of Mental Health Systems·Tarik EndaleJill Murphy

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