Malawian Program for Mental Health Research Training (WARMHEART)

Kamuzu University Of Health Sciences, Blantyre

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

SUMMARY Globally, mental health disorders account for nearly a third of years lived with disability and are the fifth- leading cause of disability-adjusted life years. Approximately three-quarters of this burden resides in low and middle-income countries, where a particularly large “mental health treatment gap” exists. This gap is particularly striking in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA), where extremely limited mental health treatment capacity exists; less than 1 in 27 of those with a mental disorder get minimally adequate treatment. The development of in-country leaders in mental health research and policy translation is critical to address this mental health treatment gap in sSA. The Malawian Program for Mental Health Research Training (WARMHEART) program has begun to address the treatment gap in Malawi and aims to accelerate mental health research capacity and policy development in the next five years. In Malawi, known as “the warm heart of Africa,” the country’s first psychiatrist in a generation completed medical training seven years ago. Kamuzu University of Health Sciences enthusiastically supports expansion of its mental health faculty and research. Multiple funded mental health research grants provide a rich opportunity for mentored research experiences, and the Ministry of Health mental health unit is committed to translating research to practice. Building on our first cycle’s success, this renewal transitions leadership from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) to Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) and employs a model to accelerate mental health research capacity across the lifespan in Malawi by emphasizing three complementary dimensions: depth, breadth, and reach. This initiative builds on the strong training track records of and successful collaborations between KUHeS, UNC-CH, the Malawi Ministry of Health, and many other partners. Specifically, we will 1) train 5 clinical psychiatry researchers and 4 postdoctoral mental health research fellows who will participate in leadership training; Individualized tailored training packages’ special courses on implementation science, newer research methods, qualitative research, and policy translation, mentored research projects, writing workshops, and conference attendance (depth); 2) hold broad initial stakeholder meetings to prioritize research and policy questions, require cross-specialty collaboration in mentored research projects, enhance mentorship skills among in-country faculty, and sponsor regular mental health journal clubs and mental health conferences for a broad audience (breadth); and 3) extend the impact of these researchers through leadership and policy translation training, require collaboration with a policymaker in mentored research projects, and hold a policy translation meeting at the end of the project period (reach). WARMHEART will expand the expert pool of mental health researchers trained as leaders and able to collaborate with other disciplines and policymakers to address the role of psychiatric illness across the lifespan.