Husisha

The team adapted a five-session manualized program developed and evaluated with adolescents in India, following the mhCACI framework for systematic cultural adaptation. Content was adapted for the Kenyan context and translated into Kiswahili, including the illustrated stories that carry the method, which were redrawn with Kenyan characters and settings. Peer counselors were recruited from among young volunteers at a youth drop-in center run by Family Health Options Kenya. Their counseling competencies improved across all domains assessed following training, demonstrating the readiness of near-peer providers to deliver the intervention.

Forty-three adolescents completed treatment. Depression and anxiety symptoms were assessed before and after the program using the PHQ-9 and the GAD-7, and adolescents improved on both measures. Qualitative interviews with adolescents and peer counselors examined the relevance and perceived usefulness of the content, the changes adolescents experienced described in their own words, and how delivery worked in practice. Acceptability was high. Most adolescents valued being counseled by someone close to their own age, who they felt understood the difficulties they were facing, and the peer counselors described delivering the program as a positive experience for themselves.

Giusto, A., Vander Missen, M. R., Kosgei, G., Njiriri, F., Puffer, E. S., Kamaru Kwobah, E., Barasa, J., Turrissini, M., Rasmussen, J., Ott, M., Binayo, J., Rono, W., & Jaguga, F. (2023). Peer-delivered problem-solving therapy for adolescent mental health in Kenya: Adaptation for context and training of peer-counselors. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 51, 1243–1256.