Abstract
John Naslund and Eirini Karyotaki discuss Mark Jordans and colleagues' accompanying research study on therapy for people with psychological distress in Nepal.
Highlights
Recent studies have reported on the increasing viability of digital approaches for supporting delivery of mental health services even in conflict settings and in severely resource-limited contexts at risk for humanitarian emergencies [15]; yet, there remains a substantial digital divide, in impoverished communities and among women compared to men
With nonspecialist-delivered psychological interventions showing promising outcomes across diverse settings, contexts, and cultures, our attention must focus on sustaining quality delivery of these programs while scaling up access to reach the millions of people facing psychological distress and mental health consequences due to humanitarian emergencies globally
Further consideration of the costs and cost–benefit of nonspecialist-delivered programs is necessary to advocate for health systems and policymakers to prioritize access to these critically important services
Summary
Jordans and colleagues offer a novel exploration of why and how Group PM+ worked, revealing that participants’ use of the program skills such as breathing exercises, problem solving techniques, and seeking social support were important drivers in the difference in outcomes between study arms This provides empirical evidence demonstrating which core components of the brief psychological intervention can achieve the desired outcome [8]. Nonspecialist supervision and assessment of competencies could reflect the importance of effectively teaching participants how to practice and apply the program skills in their day-to-day lives, as these appear essential for experiencing benefits Another often-overlooked aspect of nonspecialist delivered interventions is the mental health and well-being of the nonspecialists themselves. This may be critical for ensuring that they can continue to successfully deliver these programs in their communities
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