Identifying sustainable care for depression and anxiety in Indonesia
Depression and anxiety are common mental health problems, affecting large numbers of people globally. In Indonesia, depression and anxiety affect 14 million people and has one of the highest rates of depression in south-east Asia. Researchers at Manchester are collaborating with Indonesian experts through the STAND-Indonesia project to help identify potential care pathways and treatments.
Depression and anxiety are treatable, but there is a shortage of trained professionals. Many people in Indonesia, and across the world, are not getting the help they need.
Professor Penny Bee
Penny is Professor of Applied Mental Health Research in the Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work at Manchester.
Talking treatments can help people with depression and anxiety to recover. They can be delivered by people without a mental health qualification, and are recommended by the World Health Organisation for regions where mental health services are limited.
Training lay workers to deliver talking treatments is cheaper and more feasible than training a smaller number of highly skilled professionals.
Adapting talking treatments
A team led by Professor Penny Bee and Dr Helen Brooks from the Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work and Dr Herni Susanti from the University of Indonesia are working directly with patients and professionals in Indonesia to understand their experiences of, and preferences for, receiving and delivering treatments.
Known as STAND-Indonesia, the project will use this information to culturally adapt talking treatments and produce locally relevant delivery plans. The collaborative study is taking place in partnership with the Universitas Indonesia and the National Research and Innovation Agency, as well as four NGO partners in Indonesia.
Dr Helen Brooks
Helen is a Senior Lecturer and head of the Mental Health Research Group in the Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work at Manchester.
The team will talk to patients and professionals about their experiences of these interventions, and explore the impact this has had on individuals, communities and health service use. The research will evaluate the cost of delivering the intervention, and identify the geographical regions and patient groups that should be prioritised for future rollouts of the treatment.
They will also compare findings from different regions across Indonesia to help inform understanding of how best to support treatment availability and increase uptake in the longer term.
The new learnings from the study will help to improve the delivery of talking treatments across the globe, starting with a low-intensity psychological intervention that will be implemented across Java Island in 2024.
Learn more about the STAND-Indonesia project.