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COVID Recovery | Scoping an Intervention in Youth Mental Health Support in Kenya

COVID Recovery | Scoping an Intervention in Youth Mental Health Support in Kenya

The Youth Cafe in collaboration with the University of Sussex (UK) through Sussex Writes, have won the 2021 Global Challenges Fund for a project that is working to formulate a contextually-appropriate psychosocial intervention model, aiming to improve youth mental health, promote social inclusion and strengthen post-pandemic resilience in Kenya. With mental health disorders left untreated, these conditions have serious detrimental effects on young people’s developmental progress, family life and educational achievement, with long-term risks for poor health, social marginalisation and unemployment in adulthood. COVID-19 has increased threats to mental ill health and worsened pre-existing global inequalities in access to adequate care. Addressing these challenges is essential to achieving post-COVID recovery, given the close links between youth mental health, social disability and economic development.