Manasi Kumar
Biographic Data
| ID | 3704222 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Manasi Kumar |
| GIVEN NAMES | Manasi |
| FAMILY NAME | Kumar |
| SIGNATURE | KUMAR M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Nairobi |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9773-8014 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 59 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 5 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 59 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
The impact of depression, anxiety, and social support on the relationship between loneliness and HRQoL among older adults in Bangladesh
“When a man is stressed, it replicates in the house”
Mental health conditions are a major public health concern in the African region, where women experience a high prevalence of maternal mental health conditions and limited access to adequate care. This issue is particularly severe among women living with HIV (WLHIV), who face a heightened risk of depression and anxiety. Despite the well-documented association between male partner-related factors and maternal/child health outcomes, their impact on…
Women's empowerment and mental well-being
Perinatal mental health is a significant concern globally, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Women's mental well-being is essential for managing daily stresses and positively contributing to their communities. Empowering women can enhance their health and that of their families. This paper explores how women's empowerment(WE) in rural Kenyan communities affects their maternal mental well-being and discusses the challenges and lesson…
Transforming mental health care in Kenya
This short communication advocates for the strategic implementation of Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROM) systems within Kenya's specialized mental health institutions, especially teaching and referral hospitals. The proposed shift aims to transform these institutions into learning health systems, dynamic structures that systematically capture and utilize data from everyday clinical practice to drive continuous improvement in care quality, accounta…
Multiple Adverse Childhood Experiences and Maternal Mental Health Outcomes Among Kenyan Mothers With and Without HIV
The political economy of adolescent mental health in Kenya
Adolescent mental health remains a critical yet under-prioritized issue in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) like Kenya, where resource limitations, stigma, and systemic barriers hinder access to care. While policies and strategies such as Kenya's Mental Health Action Plan (2021–2025) exist on paper, their implementation is constrained by limited resources and a weak mental health service delivery infrastructure. This qualitative descripti…
Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021
BACKGROUND: Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mort…
Global incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), disability-adjusted life-years (Dalys), and healthy life expectancy (Hale) for 371 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territor…
BACKGROUND: Detailed, comprehensive, and timely reporting on population health by underlying causes of disability and premature death is crucial to understanding and responding to complex patterns of disease and injury burden over time and across age groups, sexes, and locations. The availability of disease burden estimates can promote evidence-based interventions that enable public health researchers, policy makers, and other professionals to im…
Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021
BACKGROUND: Disorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by…
Adolescent and youth-friendly health interventions in low-income and middle-income countries
BACKGROUND: Adolescents comprise one-sixth of the world's population, yet there is no clear understanding of the features that promote adolescent-friendly services (AFS). The lack of clarity and consistency around a definition presents a gap in health services. METHODS: The review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. We conducted a scoping review o…
Programs to Prevent Violence Against Children in Sub-Saharan Africa
Violence against children—which includes maltreatment (including physical, sexual, psychological and emotional violence, and neglect), bullying (including cyberbullying), youth violence (including physical assault with or without weapons), intimate partner violence (including exposure to domestic violence and direct involvement in teen dating violence), and sexual violence—continues to present itself as a significant public health crisis in Sub-S…
Integrating Mental Health Management into Empowerment Group Sessions for Out-of-School Adolescents in Kenyan Informal Settlements
This article presents processes for developing contextualized training procedures to better appreciate partnership, capacity-building experiences, and specific implementation challenges and opportunities for mental and public health teams. The program enrolled 469 out-of-school adolescents to participate in the integration of youth mental health into health and life-skill safe spaces. The teams utilized various methods to achieve process outcomes…
The effects of height-for-age and HIV on cognitive development of school-aged children in Nairobi, Kenya
Background Empirical evidence indicates that both HIV infection and stunting impede cognitive functions of school-going children. However, there is less evidence on how these two risk factors amplify each other’s negative effects. This study aimed to examine the direct effects of stunting on cognitive outcomes and the extent to which stunting (partially) mediates the effects of HIV, age, and gender on cognitive outcomes. Methodology We applied st…
Leave no one behind
Diverse policy maker perspectives on the mental health of pregnant and parenting adolescent girls in Kenya
The pregnancy rate in Kenya among adolescent girls is among the highest in the world. Adolescent girls experience increased risk of anxiety and depression during pregnancy and postpartum which can result in poor health outcomes for both mother and baby, and negatively influence their life course. Mental health is often given low priority in health policy planning, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). There is an urgent need to address the tr…
“Whenever you need support, you first turn to the group”
Social support is a critical component of achieving positive health outcomes for youth living with HIV (YLWH). Mobile health (mHealth) has significant potential for providing social support to YLWH. However, little is known about the domains of social support most needed by YLWH which mHealth interventions might address. Drawing on the spontaneous creation of WhatsApp support groups by YLWH in Nairobi, Kenya, we characterized Kenyan YLWH's social…
Individual-, Interpersonal- and Institutional-Level Factors Associated with HIV Stigma Among Youth in Kenya
Critical reflections on the concept and impact of 'scaling up' in Global Mental Health
The field of Global Mental Health (GMH) aims to address the global burden of mental illness by focusing on closing the 'treatment gap' faced by many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). To increase access to services, GMH prioritizes 'scaling up' mental health services, primarily advocating for the export of Western centred and developed biomedical and psychosocial 'evidence-based' approaches to the Global South. While this emphasis on scala…
Estimation of the global prevalence of dementia in 2019 and forecasted prevalence in 2050
BACKGROUND: Given the projected trends in population ageing and population growth, the number of people with dementia is expected to increase. In addition, strong evidence has emerged supporting the importance of potentially modifiable risk factors for dementia. Characterising the distribution and magnitude of anticipated growth is crucial for public health planning and resource prioritisation. This study aimed to improve on previous forecasts of…
Outcome evaluation of psychological interventions offered to adolescents seeking mental health services at the national referral and teaching hospital in Nairobi, Kenya
Literature highlights that adolescent mental health problems are amenable to treatment, specifically to psychological interventions. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of evidence on the services available for their management especially in low-middle-income contexts. This study aimed to highlight psychological interventions available to adolescents seeking mental health services at the National referral hospital in Kenya and to understand their ef…
Global, regional, and national progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 for neonatal and child health
BACKGROUND: Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 has targeted elimination of preventable child mortality, reduction of neonatal death to less than 12 per 1000 livebirths, and reduction of death of children younger than 5 years to less than 25 per 1000 livebirths, for each country by 2030. To understand current rates, recent trends, and potential trajectories of child mortality for the next decade, we present the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, a…
A Four-Component Framework Toward Patient-Centered, Integrated Mental Healthcare in Kenya
Background: How can we fast-track the global agenda of integrated mental healthcare in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Kenya? This is a question that has become increasingly important for individuals with lived experiences, policymakers, mental health advocates and health care providers at the local and international levels. Discussion: This narrative synthesis and perspective piece encompasses an overview of mental health care c…
Is there an optimal screening tool for identifying perinatal depression within clinical settings of sub-Saharan Africa
Depression is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide and the most common complication of the perinatal period. Women in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are disproportionately impacted by perinatal depression. Maternal and child health (MCH) clinics are widely attended in SSA, offering a potential access point for depression screening. Yet, selection of optimal depression screening instruments for use within MCH clinics in SSA rema…
Task-sharing and piloting WHO group interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT-G) for adolescent mothers living with HIV in Nairobi primary health care centers
This paper describes a sustainable structure to deliver the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed group Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT-G) for Postpartum Adolescent (PPA) mothers living with HIV in Nairobi. It documents the process of mobilizing, training, and engaging Community Health Workers (CHWs) and Key Informants (health facility staff) involved in the Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) in two Primary Health Care (PHC) f…
Threats to Global Mental Health From Unregulated Digital Phenotyping and Neuromarketing
The new era of digitalized knowledge and information technology (IT) has improved efficiency in all medical fields, and digital health solutions are becoming the norm. There has also been an upsurge in utilizing digital solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic to address the unmet mental healthcare needs, especially for those unable to afford in-person office-based therapy sessions or those living in remote rural areas with limited access to mental…
Critical reflections on the concept and impact of 'scaling up' in Global Mental Health
The field of Global Mental Health (GMH) aims to address the global burden of mental illness by focusing on closing the 'treatment gap' faced by many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). To increase access to services, GMH prioritizes 'scaling up' mental health services, primarily advocating for the export of Western centred and developed biomedical and psychosocial 'evidence-based' approaches to the Global South. While this emphasis on scala…
Mapping inequalities in exclusive breastfeeding in low- and middle-income countries, 2000-2018
Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF)-giving infants only breast-milk for the first 6 months of life-is a component of optimal breastfeeding practices effective in preventing child morbidity and mortality. EBF practices are known to vary by population and comparable subnational estimates of prevalence and progress across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are required for planning policy and interventions. Here we present a geospatial analysis of E…
Freud and narcissism
The problematic of narcissism in the way Freud visualized forces us to acknowledge the dualism of drives inside the subject; the object relations theory then builds up on the inherent need and the structuring potential of the object. The paper traces the growth of this concept in Freud's thinking in a bid to show how the object's otherness is not fully metabolized within the Freudian corpus. On the other hand, recent criticisms of object relation…
In a Bid to Restate the Culture-Psyche Problematic
This book assembles a broad sweep of its author's writings in one volume. Sudhir Kakar is an erudite psychoanalyst who has written nearly fifteen previous books on various aspects of Indian psyche and culture. Most are concerned with alternative healing practices and traditions, aspects of Indian childhood, and the place of sexuality in Indian culture. Informed by psychohistory and influenced by Erikson's theory of identity and its psychosocial d…
A Journey into the Bleeding City
This article unfolds rubric-by-rubric the orgy of violence that shook the city of Ahmedabad postearthquake and riots. Informed by psychoanalytic ideas on the origins and vicissitudes of violence, hatred, evil, envy, notions of otherness, repudiation of femininity, and borrowing insights from cultural studies and trauma theory, the paper maps the recent sociopolitical turmoil in the city. Against the backdrop of the two disasters—2001earthquake an…
Valuation of the ecosystem services
Conceptualizing Attachment Trauma
The Poverty in Psychoanalysis
The article reviews psychoanalytic scholarship on the themes of poverty and deprivation available on the Psychoanalytic Electronic Publications (PEP-web). The article evaluates select definitions and explanations of poverty as illustrated in the scientific papers published in the PEP-web from 1933 to 2003 (covering 70 years) and finds that psychoanalytic scholarship has very little to say about poverty or the poor. In spite of references to the p…
Girls are to be seen, not to be heard’
The focus on children in the context of everyday life under vulnerable conditions offers great promise for enriching our understanding of how disputations over culture and forms of belongingness are enacted repeatedly and undramatically: here culture takes a living form rather than a fixed one. The proposed paper is part of a larger project that examines psychological and social trauma of child survivors of the 2001–02 Gujarat earthquake and riot…
Geraldine Moane, Gender and Colonialism
Risk factors for postpartum depression in women living with HIV attending prevention of mother-to-child transmission clinic at Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi
Mothers with HIV are at high risk of a range of psychosocial issues that may impact HIV disease progression for themselves and their children. Stigma has also become a substantial barrier to accessing HIV/AIDS care and prevention services. The study objective was to determine the prevalence and severity of postpartum depression (PPD) among women living with HIV and to further understand the impact of stigma and other psychosocial factors in 123 w…
Haven of safety’ and ‘secure base’
Secure attachment in childhood and adolescence protects children from engagement in high risk behaviors and development of mental health problems over the life span. Poverty has been shown to create impoverishment in certain aspects of caregiving and correspondingly to compromise development of secure attachment in children. Nineteen children 8 to 14 years old from two schools in a middle income area and an urban informal settlement area of Nairo…
Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950–2017
BACKGROUND: Assessments of age-specific mortality and life expectancy have been done by the UN Population Division, Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UNPOP), the United States Census Bureau, WHO, and as part of previous iterations of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). Previous iterations of the GBD used population estimates from UNPOP, which were not derived in a way that was internally consistent wit…
Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality for 282 causes of death in 195 countries and territories, 1980–2017
BACKGROUND: Global development goals increasingly rely on country-specific estimates for benchmarking a nation's progress. To meet this need, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2016 estimated global, regional, national, and, for selected locations, subnational cause-specific mortality beginning in the year 1980. Here we report an update to that study, making use of newly available data and improved methods. GBD …
Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017
BackgroundThe Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 comparative risk assessment (CRA) is a comprehensive approach to risk factor quantification that offers a useful tool for synthesising evidence on risks and risk–outcome associations. With each annual GBD study, we update the GBD CRA to incorporate improved methods, new risks and risk–outcome pairs, and new data on risk exposure levels and risk–outcome associatio…
Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life-years (Dalys) for 359 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (Hale) for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017
BACKGROUND: How long one lives, how many years of life are spent in good and poor health, and how the population's state of health and leading causes of disability change over time all have implications for policy, planning, and provision of services. We comparatively assessed the patterns and trends of healthy life expectancy (HALE), which quantifies the number of years of life expected to be lived in good health, and the complementary measure o…
Measuring progress from 1990 to 2017 and projecting attainment to 2030 of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals for 195 countries and territories
BACKGROUND: Efforts to establish the 2015 baseline and monitor early implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlight both great potential for and threats to improving health by 2030. To fully deliver on the SDG aim of "leaving no one behind", it is increasingly important to examine the health-related SDGs beyond national-level estimates. As part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017 (GBD 2…
Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017
BACKGROUND: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017 (GBD 2017) includes a comprehensive assessment of incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) for 354 causes in 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2017. Previous GBD studies have shown how the decline of mortality rates from 1990 to 2016 has led to an increase in life expectancy, an ageing global population, and an expansion of the non-fatal…
Neurocognitive functioning of HIV positive children attending the comprehensive care clinic at Kenyatta national hospital
Children and adolescents are affected in different ways by HIV/AIDS. Neurocognitive deficits are one of the most significant long term effects on HIV infected children and adolescents. Several factors are thought to influence cognitive outcomes and this include immune status, Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), education and social support. The aim of the study was to assess the neurocognitive function of HIV infected children and adole…
Factor analysis of the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation – Outcome Measures (Core-OM) in a Kenyan sample
The English language version of the CORE-OM can be used with psychiatric patients attending psychiatric treatment in Nairobi. The factor structure was more or less the same as has been shown in previous studies. The most important limitation is the relatively small sample size
Global, regional, and national burden of neurological disorders, 1990–2016
BACKGROUND: Neurological disorders are increasingly recognised as major causes of death and disability worldwide. The aim of this analysis from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2016 is to provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date estimates of the global, regional, and national burden from neurological disorders. METHODS: We estimated prevalence, incidence, deaths, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs;…
Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and mortality of HIV, 1980–2017, and forecasts to 2030, for 195 countries and territories
BACKGROUND: Understanding the patterns of HIV/AIDS epidemics is crucial to tracking and monitoring the progress of prevention and control efforts in countries. We provide a comprehensive assessment of the levels and trends of HIV/AIDS incidence, prevalence, mortality, and coverage of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for 1980-2017 and forecast these estimates to 2030 for 195 countries and territories. METHODS: We determined a modelling strategy for ea…
Engagement and partnership with peer mentors in the development of the “Positive and Healthy Living Program”
Partnership and engagement are mediators of change in the efficient uptake of evidence-based patient-centered health interventions. We reflect on our process of engagement and preparation of peer mentors in the development of peer-led psychotherapy intervention for HIV infected adolescents in active care at the Comprehensive Care Centre (CCC) at Kenyatta National Hospital. The program was implemented in two phases, using a Consultation, Involve, …
‘Know that You are not Alone.’ Influences of Social Support on Youth Newly Diagnosed with HIV in Kibera, Kenya
The role of social support in assisting youth in developed countries cope with their HIV diagnosis has been examined through a vast body of research; yet, there remains a gap in research around the effects of social support among youth living in sub-Saharan African countries including Kenya. This study aimed to examine the role of social support among Kenyan youth living with HIV, specifically with regard to the variations in influences of this s…
A Qualitative Exploration of Gaps and Challenges in Knowledge and Practices of Electroconvulsive Therapy by Key Personnel in Public and Private Mental Health Units in Kenya
Background: Evidence-based research for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) practice in Kenya is scarce. This has seemingly stifled knowledge with regard to ECT practice among key personnel in the country. Research shows that evidence-based guidelines not only harmonize clinical practice in a certain region but also improve health outcomes and quality of clinical decisions made by key personnel. This study aimed at assessing knowledge and administrat…
Championing Equity, Empowerment, and Transformational Leadership in (Mental Health) Research Partnerships
Through a narrative synthesis of existing literature on research partnerships, the paper underscores four core values championed in public policy and practice: equity, empowerment, transformational leadership, and treating mental health research as a cooperative inquiry. Building on these values, the author maps the challenges before mental health researchers in forging resilient, egalitarian, and committed Global North-South partnerships within …
Global age-sex-specific fertility, mortality, healthy life expectancy (Hale), and population estimates in 204 countries and territories, 1950–2019
BACKGROUND: Accurate and up-to-date assessment of demographic metrics is crucial for understanding a wide range of social, economic, and public health issues that affect populations worldwide. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 produced updated and comprehensive demographic assessments of the key indicators of fertility, mortality, migration, and population for 204 countries and territories and selected sub…
Medicine (41 works) · Psychology (27 works) · Psychiatry (21 works) · Environmental health (19 works) · Mental health (16 works) · Political science (16 works) · Sociology (14 works) · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (12 works) · Burden of disease (12 works) · Public health (12 works)