MHPSS Academy: scaling up effective mental health support across the globe
Photo: EASE training, SOS Children’s Villages Italy, in Verona, Italy.
To help close the gap in mental health and psychosocial support services worldwide, the MHPSS Academy foundation has been established. At Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Marit Sijbrandij, Pernille Hansen, and Els van de Ven have conducted research into the effectiveness of these WHO-developed programs with expanding the World Health Organization’s “scalable” train-the-trainer programs as a result.
To reach as many people as possible
By supporting scalable programs that can be taught to lay counselors, the foundation offers faster, more accessible, and cost-effective alternatives to traditional mental health care within people’s own community in their native language, particularly in crisis-affected areas.
MHPSS Academy as linchpin
Through consultancy, technical support, and active involvement in research and innovation, the foundation seeks to strengthen the base for scaling up mental health support. Want to learn more? Please visit the website.
Involvement of IXA
IXA has been gladly supporting the establishment of the new foundation, in acquiring funding, advice on organizational and legal matters, and impact and/or business development strategies.
With the MHPSS Academy we will be able to train mental health and psychosocial support providers on all continents of the world, to make sure that effective psychosocial support is reaching people most in need.
SOS CV RTRC, Karen International Training Resource Centre, Nairobi, Kenya