Atmiyata, India A two-tiered community-led mental health model in India that leverages existing networks, and digital approaches and develops community-based organizations to detect mental disorders. citiesRISE is supporting Atmiyata to develop strategic pathways for scaling up in the state of Gujarat, using urban centers as a strategy for broader adoption nationally in India.
StrongMinds, Uganda A social enterprise that provides life-changing mental health services to low-income African women through a group talk therapy model and a network of self-perpetuating talk therapy groups. citiesRISE is supporting StrongMinds to develop its framework for the initiative.
IPT, Lebanon In partnership with the Lebanon Ministry of Health and Columbia University, citiesRISE is supporting the project team to build on an existing small scale IPT training-of-trainers pilot and launch a phased approach that aims to drive national scale-up of the model throughout Lebanon.
Life-DM, Vietnam Livelihood Integration for Effective Depression Management (Life-DM) improves access to depression management care and micro-finance for low-income women in two Vietnamese cities, resulting in improved social, economic and health for participating women and their families. citiesRISE is providing strategic support to the Life-DM leadership team to operationalize partnership frameworks and integration of the model within the local and national systems.
Inuka Hero, Kenya Philips is designing a digital delivery platform based on the Friendship Bench innovation for treating depression. Inuka Hero consists of a digital platform which allows users to increase their own awareness, detection and management of common mental disorders (CMDs), along with recruiting and training “Heroes” to provide the support. citiesRISE is supporting the path-to-market development of technological solutions to reach the most vulnerable groups and young people.
This initiative is based on an understanding of the existing evidence about what works to improve mental health, and then scaling up and adapting what works to new populations. As well, the scope for technology-based innovations, especially online and mobile platforms, is already being demonstrated. As access to technology continues to reach previously unserved populations, the avenues for mental health services and support will also increase. Learning from experience and further building and applying the evidence of what works to improve mental health is a key element of the program.