Advancing Health Infrastructure to Address Mental Health Disorders among People Living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa

Bibliographic Data

ID15315309
AuthorsFaraan O Rahim (0000-0003-1305-0720, 1 Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, corresponding author), Kavya Kannan (2 University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX), Meghna Katyal (1 Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC), Velda Wang (1 Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC), Zavera Basrai (Duke University), Zavera K Basrai (1 Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC), Henry S Q Lartey (3 University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana), Bhav Jain (0000-0003-2648-4894, 4 Stanford University, Stanford, CA), Alessandro Hammond (0000-0003-2681-614X, 5 Harvard University, Cambridge, MA), Tej A Patel (0000-0002-0882-2960, University of Pennsylvania), Tej Patel (6 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA), Brandon A Knettel (0000-0003-2986-1579, 1 Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC)
Year2025
Volume35
Issue2
Pages53-57
Publication date2025-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnicity & Disease (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-510X • E-ISSN: 1945-0826
PublisherEthnicity & Disease, Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.18865/ethndis-2023-46
PMID40386071
OpenAlexW4410109560
LanguageEN
References cited20

People living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa bear a disproportionate burden of mental and behavioral health disorders compared with the general population. Several health care systems throughout the region have made efforts to integrate HIV and mental health care, but these systems have met challenges in long-term sustainability due to limited care continuity and insufficient attention to social determinants of health. In this commentary, we propose evidence-based recommendations for integrating HIV and mental health care that may overcome these barriers. These strategies include mental health screenings and referrals during routine HIV clinic visits, community-based mobile clinics and telemedicine to expand access to mental health services, concurrent mental health and HIV education within schools, and models for future health care innovation. These approaches have the potential to offer an entire continuum of care for people living with HIV and co-occurring mental health disorders, mitigating the dual burden of these conditions in sub-Saharan Africa

Economic growth · Environmental health · Family medicine · Health care · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV · Mental health · Population · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Telemedicine · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Family Caregiving in Mental Illness · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · Medicine · Nursing · Gerontology