About Us
The Projects
In partnership with the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), our team has implemented several projects to address mental health issues in Vietnam. This includes developing a mobile app that will support community-based mental health care to help reduce the mental health burden in the population.
WHY VIETNAM
The Government of Vietnam (MOLISA) is committed to providing mental health services for depression. In 2010, the MOLISA integrated treatment for depression and early detection of mental illness for women and children into primary care .
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Despite these efforts, there is still limited access to mental health services and human resources (e.g., psychiatrists, and psychiatric nurses). As a result, many individuals do not receive the care they need.
RESEARCH STAGES
STAGE 1: FEASIBILITY STUDY
(GCC; $269,000; 2013-2016)
This project, which took place from 2013 to 2015, tested the feasibility of implementing a full-scale randomized control trial of a supported self-management (SSM) intervention to treat adults with depression in primary care. SSM is a low-cost psychosocial intervention that uses a task-shifting approach and is based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) principles. This intervention consists of providing the patient with the Antidepressant Skills Workbook (ASW), and support and coaching by a lay social worker (‘social collaborator’) in the use of the workbook.
STAGE 2: MAC-FI PROJECT
(GCC - Transition to Scale; $1,049,000; with matched funding of $1,000,000 from MOLISA; 2013-2016)
From 2016-2019, our team conducted a Randomized Controlled Trial to test the effectiveness of the SSM intervention for depression in community-based settings across eight provinces in Vietnam. The intervention was found to help reduce symptoms of depression in adults with mild to moderate depression based on the proportion of participants scoring >7 on the WHO Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) and may also reduce disability as measured by the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Scale version 2.0 (WHODAS). The demonstrated effectiveness of the SSM intervention has helped the team secure additional funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Grand Challenges Canada to adapt the in-person intervention to a digital format (to be delivered through a smartphone app called VMood) and tested in an RCT in Vietnam.
STAGE 3: IRIS-DSV
(CIHR; $963,900; 2018-2023)
The goal of this project was to explore factors that influenced the implementation and scale-up of the in-person supported self-management (SSM) intervention in community-based settings in Vietnam. This ongoing study helps to provide MOLISA and other implementing partners with evidence to inform strategic planning for scale-up of the SSM intervention. By improving reach and access by the population, the scale-up SSM will fill a critical gap in mental health services, improving the health and quality of life of people living with depression in Vietnam. It will also contribute generalizable evidence to fill a knowledge gap in global mental health about processes of implementation and scale-up of depression services in other contexts.
STAGE 4: VMOOD
(CIHR; $$578,340; 2021-2025)
This study, funded by CIHR in 2021, will examine whether a supported self-management (SSM) intervention for depression can be adapted for delivery through a mobile app (VMood) in Vietnam. This project will test the feasibility of this mobile app intervention for managing depression in Vietnam.
STAGE 5: AIMDIV
(GCC - Transition to Scale; $1,400,000; with matched funding of $1,400,000 from MOLISA; 2022-2026)
This AIMDiV Health Impact innovation project will scale up a sustainable community-based,
Low-cost mental health intervention for people with depression in Vietnam. The intervention, originally developed for in-person delivery, has been adapted for digital delivery via a smartphone app (VMood). Currently, approximately 3 million people in Vietnam suffer from depression with virtually no access to psychotherapeutic services. Although our focus is on depression, our intervention and the measures proposed to evaluate this intervention also include symptoms of anxiety, which frequently co-occurs with depression.