The South Africa HIV ATTC provides extensive training, technical assistance, and capacity building in mental health screening, diagnosis, and treatment. In addition, we help organisations to integrate mental health detection and intervention into routine clinical care as a means of reducing HIV risk and improving HIV treatment outcomes across their patient populations.
Our mental health training curriculum is derived from a manual developed by the South Africa HIV ATTC Co-Director, Dr. Goodman Sibeko, as part of his PhD dissertation. Initial piloting of the curriculum occured with 58 community health workers across two non-profit organisations. Results of the study indicated that providers demonstrated significantly improved knowledge, confidence, attitudes, and tolerance to rehabilitation of the mentally ill in the community. A manuscript based on these results, co-authored by Dr. Goodman Sibeko and Professor Dan Stein, the South Africa HIV ATTC Project Director, was published in the June 2018 edition of BMC Psychiatry.
Topics covered in our mental health training include: