On Wednesday March 25 2015, at a packed Gede, attendees of the Foundation’s Mental Health Dialogue Programme were given a rare treat as two speakers gave exceptionally engaging presentations on Mental Health and Orphans and Vulnerable Children and the importance of addressing stigma in bringing mental health issues out of the shadows.

Renowned poet Bassey Ikpi gave a moving presentation on her own ‘mental health journey’ and talked about the importance (in all societies) of addressing the causes of stigma which result in so many people keeping their mental health conditions ‘in the shadows’, leading to a situation in which treatment pathways are too often shunned.

Reverend Sister Cecelia from the Catholic Action Committee Against AIDS (CACA) gave a powerful presentation about the mental health impact on those children who, as orphans, often find themselves vulnerable and marginalised. Reverend Sister Cecelia highlighted the excellent work of CACA in addressing many of these issues and advocated strongly for greater efforts to ensure that the plight of so many OVCs does not remain ‘in the shadows’.

Both presentations were followed by lively Q&A sessions.

 The session was also delighted and honoured to hear a message of support, delivered in person, by Gede’s Founder, Dr Jennifer Jamilah Douglas-Abubakar, who highlighted the importance of such sessions in terms of networking and raising key issues related to underserved and highly stigmatised health burdens. Dr Douglas-Abubakar also praised participants for devoting time and energy to raise awareness about mental health in particular and hoped that efforts eventually lead to a recognition, at all levels of society (including Government), of the impact of mental illness and the need for resources to be allocated to address them fully.

 The next meeting of the Dialogue Programme will be held on April 15 2015.

Gede and IHVN recruit Interviewers for prevalence study

A panel of interviewers from Gede Foundation and IHVN recruited a number of key personnel for the Study on the Prevalence of Depression, Alcohol Abuse and Suicidality among a sample of over 1000 people living positively in the FCT.  The interviews were conducted on March 24, 25 and 26th at the IHVN Office in Abuja.  The 35 short-listed candidates came from a pool of almost 400 applicants who expressed interest in being part of the team. 

The recruitment process is part of preparatory activities for the prevalence study.  The data collection phase is expected to take off in May 2015.  

Entrepreneurial skills and Mental Health awareness among young people

The Partnership between Gede and UNICEM in Calabar has recently grown beyond giving educational support to young people in rural communities, to include the training of beneficiaries on entrepreneurial skills which will provide other options to earn a living.
 
The training included sessions on ‘promoting positive mental health’ through awareness on substance misuse.
 
It also covered micro-enterprise fundamentals which included an introduction to the business cycle, record keeping, adding-value, marketing, selling for profit and savings using “Making Cent International Micro-enterprise Fundamental Tool Kit”  by  trained resource persons.
At the end of the training sessions, participants realized the importance of entrepreneurial skills in their personal and business development, which motivated them to combine business planning, marketing of products and recognizing opportunities that they could offer.

Centre for Women and Adolescent Empowerment

Today, John Minto, Managing Director of Gede met with the Executive Chair and Founder of the Centre for Women and Adolescent Empowerment, Asmau’u Joda. The Centre, which is based in Yola, Adamawa State, is currently working closely with the American University of Nigeria (Yola) in order to provide appropriate support to people who have been displaced by recent fighting in nearby states and have been forced to live in IDP camps. A large part of this work involves sourcing and providing high quality counselling for girls in particular who have gone through traumatic experiences before and during their time in the camps. Gede and the Centre will continue to explore opportunities to work together, given their respective passion for mental illness and mental health.

Gede Foundation and IHVN Visit Treatment Sites

Officers and staff of the Gede Foundation and the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN) visited three IHVN-managed special treatment clinics located at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital in Gwagwalada, the Asokoro District Hospital, and Garki District Hospital on March 4 and 5, 2015. The purpose of these visits was for Gede and IHVN to introduce the Prevalence Study Project (PSP) to the site coordinators. The PSP is a joint project between Gede and IHVN. It will be a prevalence study on depression, alcohol use, and suicidality among the HIV population in FCT, Abuja. Data collection is expected to start in these facilities by the end of April 2015.

DEPRESSION DISORDERS

Today, as part of its Mental Health Dialogue Programme, the Gede Foundation hosted a well attended presentation on ‘Depression Disorders’ given by Dr Maureen Osuji-Ekeh, Clinical Psychologist, Karu General Hospital. Dr Osuji-Ekeh’s wide ranging presentation touched on all aspects of depression – from mild to severe and covered specialist issues such as post natal depression. After the presentation, the audience engaged in a very likely Q&A session during which one issue was made very clear – there is very little gained in keeping awareness about any form of depression (or mental health condition) ‘in the shadows’. Watch this space for news about future Mental Health Dialogue Programme presentations.

Ethical review of Prevalence Survey Proposal

One of the great challenges Gede has faced over the last 6-12 months has been focused on evolving our own core competencies as we engage with leading agencies in order to undertake the large prevalence study of common mental disorders in a sample of over 1000 people living positively with HIV-AIDS. One of the key challenges has been focused on addressing the rigours required for undertaking a peer reviewed piece of research – which has included ensuring that the protocol itself passes the process of ethical review with flying colours. At the time of writing, Gede is putting the finishing touches to the document which will be submitted to the Ethical Review Board of our partners, the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria. Watch this space!

NACA technical Working Group Sub-Committee on Mental Health

Today, Gede hosted and Co-Chaired the NACA technical Working Group Sub-Committee on Mental Health which has been tasked with identifying ways in which common mental disorders can be integrated into HIV-AIDS care and support throughout Nigeria. As part of this work, the Sub-Committee has considered various options which will be presented to NACA ‘in full’ later in the year and will then (if approved) be integrated into existing toolkits. As has been shown in various studies, not integrating mental health screening/treatment/referral into HIV-AIDS care and support has significant negative impact on issues such as treatment adherence, the risk of new infections and health seeking behaviour in general. Watch this space for further updates on this important initiative

Psychosocial interventions to accelerate internal security of Nigerian communities

On Wednesday February 25, Gede held the fourth session in its 2015 Mental Health Dialogue Programme.

Mrs Chioma Igboegwu, a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and President for the Agency for African Families in Distress, delivered a highly interactive session on ‘psychological interventions to break the cycle of violence and accelerate internal security and development of Nigerian communities’.

As can be seen from the photographs, 25 organizations participated in an interactive session which generated lively discussion around a number of key issues related to the psychological impact on individuals and communities of violence and conflict. Gede’s next Mental Health Dialogue Programme session will be held on Wednesday March 11 2015 11.00-13.00 and will feature a presentation on ‘Depression Disorders’

Updates on the Prevalence Study Project (PSP)

Gede Foundation and The Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN) signed the letter of agreement on February 12, 2015 to conduct the Prevalence Study on Depression, Alcohol Use, and Suicide Among the HIV Population in Abuja. The first of its kind involving a large sample size (n=1,200) in Nigeria, the study is aimed at documenting the relationship between common mental disorders and HIV, comparing cohorts from 3 treatment sites that are at different stages of the disease and who are either undergoing antiretroviral therapy (ART) or are under care and monitoring, as well as some sociodemographic characteristics.

Submission of the research protocol will be done this week. Preparations for site visits, hiring of interviewers, and logistics requirements have been scheduled for the next two weeks. Training of interviewers is expected by mid-March and data collection will be in April.

Establishing the link between mental health conditions and HIV is a first step towards the ultimate goal of integrating mental health into HIV care and support regimes.