title: Mental health training for health workers in Africa: a systematic review.
abstract: Commitment to building mental health treatment capacity in Africa is increasing but little agreement exists on strategies to train health workers on mental health or evaluation of training efforts. We systematically reviewed published literature on interventions to train health-care workers in Africa on mental health. 37 studies met our inclusion criteria. Training outcomes focused on changes in knowledge and attitude, with few studies evaluating skill and practice and only two studies measuring clinical outcomes. Quality of study methodology was generally not high, with scarce follow-up data and use of control cohorts. Existing studies provide examples of many training and evaluation strategies, but evidence to draw conclusions about the efficacy of different training techniques is inadequate. Key knowledge gaps include development and testing of innovative educational strategies; development of standardised, competency-based learning objectives and outcome measures; and training that facilitates implementation of integrated mental health systems. African institutions need to be empowered to do research in these areas to encourage the development of best practices for the continent.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, King's College London, Guy's Campus, London, UK.
authors.forename: Germaine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, UK; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: Helen.jack@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jack
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, UK.
authors.forename: Angharad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piette
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mangezi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Women's University in Africa, Education Services Centre, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Machando
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe.
authors.forename: Chido
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rwafa
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goldenberg
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, UK.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abas
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health / Q000193:education*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic