KENYA – A recent study conducted by researchers from the Aga Khan University (AKU) highlights the importance of scaling up investments in mental health interventions for frontline healthcare workers to strengthen health systems resilience in Kenya.
The Protecting the Wellbeing and Strengthening the Resilience of Frontline Health Workers study conducted across all 47 counties in Kenya reveals that there is a critical need to focus on self-care and peer support in combatting mental health challenges faced by frontline health workers.
The study findings state the need to establish structures especially key policies in Kenya that promote the wellbeing of health workers who are crucial in achieving Universal Health Coverage, noting the powerful role mobile health technologies could play in tackling mental health challenges.
Conducted across all 47 counties in Kenya, the Protecting the Wellbeing and Strengthening the Resilience of Frontline Health Workers study also revealed that two in every five healthcare workers show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Prof Amina Abubakar, Director of the Institute for Human Development at AKU disclosed that the institution administered a mobile-based SMS intervention that was designed to provide direct psychosocial support to health workers.
Prof Amina Abubakar observed that preliminary results show that mobile health interventions and innovations could be feasible, acceptable and used to alleviate mental health challenges faced by health workers.
The study by Aga Khan University is based on nearly 4,000 nurses, midwives and Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) who were interviewed between January 2021 and June 2022, results show that one in every four healthcare professionals exhibits signs of depression.
The survey funded by the Johnson and Johnson Foundation further reveals that two in every five healthcare workers particularly nurses, midwives and community health volunteers show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The research on the state of mental health and resilience of frontline health workers underlines that key drivers for mental health challenges include heavy workload, lack of resources, poor work environment, irregular salary payments amongst nurses and midwives as well as lack of salaries for CHVs.
The report comes at a time when several policy documents that touch on mental health are mainly patient-focused with limited focus on the workers from whom the population expects quality health care hence the need to develop policies that address the mental health needs of health workers as well.
AKU School of Nursing and Midwifery in East Africa Dean Ndirangu Mugo explained that for the frontline health workers to provide self and peer support, they must be able to identify their own psychological needs as well as that of their peers.
“There is need to train mental health practitioners who can then be deployed in the health system to provide mental support as needed. These require concerted investments by government and partners to ensure that such mental health interventions for frontline healthcare workers are met,” Dr Eunice said.
Meanwhile, Kenya developed Mental Health and Psychosocial Support guidelines for our health workers at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the study findings by AKU will complement the government’s efforts towards generating data on the mental health status of front-line health workers.
Liked this article? Sign up to receive our regular email newsletters, focused on Africa and World’s healthcare industry, directly into your inbox. SUBSCRIBE HERE
