title: Lay Health Workers' Experience of Delivering a Problem Solving Therapy Intervention for Common Mental Disorders Among People Living with HIV: A Qualitative Study from Zimbabwe.
abstract: There is growing evidence supporting the use of lay health workers (LHWs) to address the treatment gap for common mental disorders (CMD) through task-shifting. This study looks at the experience of LHWs delivering a problem solving therapy (PST) intervention for CMD for people living with HIV (PLWH) in a primary health care setting. Semi-structured interviews of LHWs (n = 7) and PLWH (10) who received PST were carried out using thematic content analysis. Over a 4 year period LHWs developed indigenous concepts of PST which were: Opening the mind (Kuvhura pfungwa), uplifting (kusimudzira), strengthening and strengthening further (kusimbisa and kusimbisisa) respectively. Using terms locally conceived through knowledge sharing amongst LHWs made it acceptable to deliver PST as part of their daily work. Indigenous terms conceived and developed by LWHs to describe components and processes of PST contribute to the therapy's acceptability and continued use in primary care facilities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe. dichi@zol.co.zw.|Zimbabwe Aids Prevention Project, Department of Community Medicine, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe. dichi@zol.co.zw.
authors.forename: Dixon
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chibanda
authors.affiliation: University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Frances
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cowan
authors.affiliation: Zimbabwe Aids Prevention Project, Department of Community Medicine, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Verhey
authors.affiliation: Women's University, Harare, Zimbabwe.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Machando
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abas
authors.affiliation: University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Crick
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lund
mesh_terms: D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D003150:Community Health Workers; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011340:Problem Solving; D036301:Qualitative Research; D015030:Zimbabwe
keywords: Common mental disorders; HIV; Lay health workers; Problem solving therapy