BACKGROUND: Following the 2014 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa, the UK Department for International Development funded South London and Maudsley National Health Service (NHS) to develop a psychological intervention that ex-Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) staff could be trained to deliver to their peers to improve mental health in Sierra Leone. AIM: The two key aims were to assess the feasibility of training a national team to deliver a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)-based group intervention, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the overall intervention within this population. METHODS: UK clinicians travelled to Sierra Leone to train a small team of ex-ETC staff in a three-phased CBT-based intervention. Standardised clinical measures, as well as bespoke measures, were applied with participants through the intervention to assess changes in mental health symptomology, and the effectiveness of the intervention. RESULTS: The results found improvements across all factors of mental health in the bespoke measure from phase 1 to phase 3. Additionally, the majority of standardised clinical measures showed improvements between phase 2 and the start of phase 3, and pre- and post-phase 3. CONCLUSION: Overall, the findings suggest that it is possible to train staff from ETCs to deliver effective CBT interventions to peers. The implications of these results are discussed, including suggestions for future research and clinical intervention implementation within this population. The limitations of this research are also addressed.
BACKGROUND: Following the 2014 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa, the UK Department for International Development funded South London and Maudsley National Health Service (NHS) to develop a psychological intervention that ex-Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) staff could be trained to deliver to their peers to improve mental health in Sierra Leone. AIM: The two key aims were to assess the feasibility of training a national team to deliver a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)-based group intervention, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the overall intervention within this population. METHODS: UK clinicians travelled to Sierra Leone to train a small team of ex-ETC staff in a three-phased CBT-based intervention. Standardised clinical measures, as well as bespoke measures, were applied with participants through the intervention to assess changes in mental health symptomology, and the effectiveness of the intervention. RESULTS: The results found improvements across all factors of mental health in the bespoke measure from phase 1 to phase 3. Additionally, the majority of standardised clinical measures showed improvements between phase 2 and the start of phase 3, and pre- and post-phase 3. CONCLUSION: Overall, the findings suggest that it is possible to train staff from ETCs to deliver effective CBT interventions to peers. The implications of these results are discussed, including suggestions for future research and clinical intervention implementation within this population. The limitations of this research are also addressed.
Entities:
Keywords:
CBT; Ebola; Sierra Leone; anxiety; depression; psychological intervention
Authors: Jennifer Palmer; Michael Ku; Hao Wang; Kien Crosse; Alexandria Bennett; Esther Lee; Alexander Simmons; Lauren Duffy; Jessie Montanaro; Khalid Bazaid Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2022-07-20 Impact factor: 4.135
Authors: Abdulai Jawo Bah; Peter Bai James; Nuhu Bah; Amara Bangali Sesay; Stephen Sevalie; Joseph Sam Kanu Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2020-09-11 Impact factor: 3.295
Authors: Jing-Li Yue; Wei Yan; Yan-Kun Sun; Kai Yuan; Si-Zhen Su; Ying Han; Arun V Ravindran; Thomas Kosten; Ian Everall; Christopher G Davey; Edward Bullmore; Norito Kawakami; Corrado Barbui; Graham Thornicroft; Crick Lund; Xiao Lin; Lin Liu; Le Shi; Jie Shi; Mao-Sheng Ran; Yan-Ping Bao; Lin Lu Journal: Psychol Med Date: 2020-11-05 Impact factor: 7.723