SEEK GSP

350 million people suffer from depression worldwide, 7/10 of those people are living in poverty without access to first-line psychological treatments. The Group support psychotherapy (GSP) aims to narrow the treatment gap for depression in rural populations including those affected by gender-based violence. GSP is a culturally sensitive, highly cost-effective first-line psychological treatment for depression & other common mental health problems & can be delivered by lay health worker.

One of the major advantages of the SEEK-GSP programme is that it does not require ongoing input from expert mental health practitioners. Primary health care workers in rural health centres are trained to deliver the GSP sessions. In turn, they are able to train lay health workers to identify individuals with depression and treat them through village-based weekly GSP sessions – thus empowering local communities to take control of their own mental health needs.

This innovation has been successfully implemented in three districts (Gulu, Kitgum and Pader) in northern Uganda. Results are published in the Lancet Global health journal: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32035035/