PROMEHY

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Promotion of Mental Health Amongst Youths (PROMEHY) aged 10 to 24 years Fako Division (Buea, Limbe, Tiko and Mutengene), Southwest Region of Cameroon

Project description

Promotion of Mental health among youths abbreviated PROMEHY is a project which aims to enhance mental health services for young people in the Fako Division.  Our approach involves providing mental health services for young people in underserved municipalities in the Fako Division, Southwest region of Cameroon. Through this project we have been able to train community-based peer educators (8) and school-based guidance counselors (6) for the purpose of creating mental health awareness, screenings, providing psychological first aid and referrals to Lifafa Research Foundation’s clinical psychology department. Our clinical psychologists visit communities and schools to offer free counseling to youths identified by our peer educators and guidance counselors. In addition to these counseling sessions, our team organizes mental health awareness tours across community and school settings. Activities carried out during these tours include mental health screenings, resilience-building workshops, and additional counseling sessions. To extend our reach and provide support where physical contact is challenging, we also leverage social media platforms including; Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and WhatsApp as well as a blog series on our website. This digital approach has facilitated ongoing communication, virtual support, and broader engagement with young people.

Problem identification

According to the Cameroon Mental Health Bulletin between 2021 and 2023, Cameroon recorded several cases of mental health disorders with the most prevalent in descending order being psychosis (41,631), depression (18,773) and anxiety (10,151). These disorders alone accounted for 77.68% of all mental health disorders over the last three years which is a representative of a silent public health pandemic. The North West and Centre regions of the country are the most affected with depression closely followed by the South West region of Cameroon. This predominance in the South West region is due to the prevailing insecurity context and as well as the chronic stress linked to urban life. In addition, the ease of access to illicit drugs especially in urbanized settings favours an increase in their consumption which precipitates the development of anxiety and psychosis. 

Project objectives

Expected Outcomes

Key Information

Project Title

Promotion of Mental Health Amongst Youths (PROMEHY) aged 10 to 24 years Fako Division (Buea, Limbe, Tiko and Mutengene), Southwest Region of Cameroon

Funder

This project is funded by Grand Challenges Canada

Project Duration

Launched in April 2023 in Buea, Fako Division, South West Cameroon this project is to last for 24 months

Project Beneficiaries

The project aims to impact over 1,503 young people aged 10-24 years. Peer educators are set to engage over 602 youths in (Buea, Limbe I, Mutengene and Tiko) communities, while guidance counselors will reach out to over 901 students in schools. Among these, 383 youths experiencing moderate to severe symptoms of depression and/or anxiety will receive counseling from our clinical psychologists, with 182 cases referred by peer educators and 201 by guidance counselors.

Project Executor

Lifafa Research Foundation

Executor Contacts

+237 679466143 +237 675204799

Executor Head Office

Great soppo Buea, Southwest region, Cameroon

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