Scaling up Self-Help Plus (SH+) through humanitarian partnerships

WHAT IS THE HUMANITARIAN NEED?

One in five people affected by humanitarian crises experience significant mental health concerns. Mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions with the strongest evidence (i.e., specialized, face-to-face, psychotherapeutic treatments) are not designed for implementation at scale: these interventions often only reach individuals or small groups at a time, are resource-intensive, rely on a skilled workforce virtually non-existent in most low-resource settings, and address one mental health problem rather than the multiple forms of psychological distress. Further, MHPSS interventions implemented on their own may not address other social determinants of mental health such as physical health, violence, and poverty.

WHAT IS THE INNOVATIVE SOLUTION?

Self Help Plus (SH+) was developed by WHO to directly address limitations to scale of MHPSS interventions. SH+ consists of 5 audio-recorded sessions and illustrated self-help book delivered in large workshops by a minimally trained lay provider. SH+ builds on evidence of guided self-help interventions and modern stress management techniques. HealthRight International has worked with WHO and other partners to translate, adapt, and test SH+ with South Sudanese refugee women in northern Uganda over the past six years. We intend to scale SH+ through a service called SH+360. Building on our knowledge of the MHPSS space and detailed experience with SH+, SH+360 is a consultancy model of tailored support delivered across the full project cycle to help leading humanitarian partners integrate SH+ into their programming across sectors. Through this project we will integrate SH+ with programming in other humanitarian sectors, such as health and protection in Uganda.

WHAT ARE THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES?

The expected outcomes from this project include having expanded the reach of SH+ through key existing partnerships in health, protection, and/or livelihoods programming in Uganda, built a knowledge-base for SH+ in the context of real-world implementation and integration with non-mental health and psychosocial support humanitarian programming for more sustainable service delivery at scale, and to have developed an understanding of humanitarian organizations’ perceptions of value for various components of SH+360. We also plan to learn about the global market for models like SH+360 and to forge new partnerships within our networks.