Focusing on mental health to better support vulnerable families in Nigeria
PM+ develops over five weekly sessions, supporting people through evidence-based techniques such as problem solving, stress management and accessing social support. The trained helpers guide program participants through the sessions to so that they find out for themselves what the source of their emotional and practical issues is.
According to Amosu, “PM+ empowers clients to identify their problems and solutions. We guide them to identify what options they have. This way, they come up with solutions within their circle of influence and control. We enable them to get out of their problems themselves and to take the lead to create change.”
Stigma, shame and cultural beliefs that attribute mental health issues to spiritual causes remain a major barrier to addressing mental health issues in Nigeria. This community model, which does not require families to seek the help of a psychologist, are key to ensure families receive the mental health support they need while reducing the risk of stigma.
Nandi Dakum, Gender Program Development Advisor for SOS Children’s Villages in Nigeria, observes that this community model also removes many barriers to accessing mental health services currently faced by community members, especially women, such as cost, distance to service, and language.
“The trained helpers provide the non-specialized service in the communities where they work at no cost. This is a huge step for us to make the intervention accessible to all, especially vulnerable families that do not have access to mental health professionals. We use it widely in our SOS family strengthening programs and extend it to other people in the community who are not part of our programs,” says Dakum.