Culturally Adapting a Mental Health Literacy Intervention With Youth (Stakeholders) for Implementation in Malawi Universities

Abstract

In Malawi, it is difficult to promote positive mental health due to poverty, cultural beliefs, and stigma associated with mental illness. Mental health literacy (MHL) is not integrated into the education system despite evidence suggesting educational settings as ideal to deliver MHL programmes. Stakeholder input is crucial during development of interventions. This paper reports on our work with diverse stakeholders to culturally adapt a MHL course (MHLc) for implementation in Malawi universities. The MHLc structure and content development involved focus group discussions (FGDs) with 44 Malawian youth from universities and youth organisations, a national MHL survey and a systematic review exploring adolescent substance use in Africa. The MHLc was delivered to 35 first-year university students. Students’ MHL was assessed using two questionnaires before and 3 months after MHLc delivery during an evaluation session which also included FGDs with 20 participants to explore course satisfaction. MHL questionnaire responses were analysed using paired t-tests and FGD transcripts were thematically analysed. Overall student attendance rate during the MHLc delivery was 92%. However, only 57% attended the evaluation session. Students’ MHL increased after course completion (pre and post scores were 116.7 and 117.9 respectively) however this change was not significant. Student feedback about the MHLc was positive. They highlighted acquiring considerable mental health knowledge and skills that they would utilise in their lives daily. A key challenge raised was disruption of course delivery due to electricity outages. The MHLc content was acceptable among university students with high attendance rates and positive feedback regarding impact on participants’ mental health knowledge and attitudes. This paper highlights the value of stakeholders’ input when designing mental health interventions. In future, we need to mitigate disruption of the MHLc delivery and consider incentives to reduce participant dropout at follow up points.