Mobile phone and nurse support for people with serious mental illness in West Africa
Combining mHealth and nurse-delivered care to improve the outcomes of people with seriousmental illness in West Africa
This program combines phone-based training for traditional healers with nurses bringing medication and follow-up care to help people with bipolar disorder and other serious mental illnesses in West Africa.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Washington NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Seattle, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11159762 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you have bipolar disorder or another serious mental illness in West Africa, this program uses mobile health tools to train traditional and faith healers in safer, evidence-based care. Nurses work with the trained healers to deliver medications and follow-up directly to patients, including those in prayer camps and community settings. The project uses phone apps and messaging to teach, monitor, and support healers and to track patient symptoms and safety. The team aims to reduce harmful practices and make it easier for people to get respectful, effective treatment close to home.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults with bipolar disorder or other serious mental illnesses who live in participating West African communities and who receive care from traditional or faith healers are the best fit.
Not a fit: People who do not live in the participating West African regions, who are already stably managed in specialist clinics, or children and adolescents under the project's age range may not directly benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could expand access to safer, evidence-based care and reduce harm and disability from serious mental illnesses in underserved West African communities.
How similar studies have performed: Previous task-shifting and mHealth programs in low-resource settings have shown promise for improving mental health care, but combining healer training with nurse-delivered pharmacotherapy in this way is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
Seattle, United States
- University of Washington — Seattle, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Ben-Zeev, Dror — University of Washington
- Study coordinator: Ben-Zeev, Dror
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.