This project aims to meet the mental health needs of Venezuelan women at risk of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Colombia. It focuses on adapting, implementing, evaluating, and promoting the translation and dissemination of a scalable mental health intervention, Group Problem-Management Plus (Group PM+), to alleviate psychological distress among these women in Barranquilla. Group PM+ is a task-sharing, scalable, and trans-diagnostic intervention delivered by lay therapists to decrease psychological distress.
The project has three phases:
- Modifying Group PM+ training and materials to fit cultural and contextual needs of the target population.
- Training a group of Venezuelan and Colombian women with little prior experience in this type of intervention. After training, these women would deliver Group PM+ to others at risk for GBV, and the project would track their effectiveness in reducing psychological distress over time.
- Finally, investigating how to make Group PM+ easily available and sustainable in the region. This would involve participating in local and international meetings to share findings and encourage adoption by various organizations, including government and non-government agencies.
The outcome would have a comprehensive training manual, assessment tools, an implementation strategy, a committee to promote adapted Group PM+, and a policy brief to guide policymakers.
The New School Center for Global Mental Health 