Africa’s Mental Health Matters (AMHMS)

Vanessa Adebayo is the CEO and Founder of Africa’s Health Matters Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to empower Africa and the African Diaspora to prioritize their health and wellness. She began Africa’s Mental Health Matters initiative to bring awareness to mental health amongst young adults in Africa and the Diaspora. She is a dynamic, results-oriented global health professional with experience launching and managing programs in Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, UK, & the US. She has experience developing strategic plans and providing technical assistance to implement innovative programmatic healthcare solutions. Her desire is to continue advocating for underserved populations that lack access to healthcare and/or the proper resources or education to live healthy fulfilling lives. 

Africa’s Mental Health Matters (AMHMS) is committed to empowering young adults, mental health advocates and policy makers across the African Continent and in the African Diaspora to prioritize mental health. Mental illness in African cultures typically carries a negative connotation and mental health services are lacking. We strive to destigmatize mental illness and improve accessibility to mental health services and the infrastructure of health services delivery systems. AMHMS utilizes three methodologies to achieve this goal: social marketing campaign aims to provide an avenue to access resources and engage in discussions about mental health; community engagement to provide health programming and linkages to care; and social enterprise partnerships to  provide mental health resources, training and counseling services. This project will elevate humanity by providing a platform where Africans have the proper tools to address their mental health, therefore, supporting their right to achieve health equity.

Approximately 450 million people suffer from psychiatric disorders across the globe and mental illness is the leading cause of ill-health and disability worldwide. Africa is especially impacted by the burden of this public health issue. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the number of mentally ill people in Nigerian, a country of 174 million, ranges from 40 million to 60 million. In 2012, a report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimated that 2.8 million Ghanaians had mental illness. Research shows that as a consequence of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, rates of mental disorders are elevated in Rwanda. In community samples, rates for PTSD range from 24.8% to 46.4%, for depression from 15.5% to 46.4% and add up to 58.9% for anxiety symptoms. Despite these devastating statistics, stigma attached to mental illness and the availability of adequate health services are the biggest barriers to seeking treatment and recovery. Mental illness in African cultures and society is largely regarded as a non-issue and mental health issues often come last on the list of priorities for policy makers. Research suggests that mental health disorders contribute to inequality in socioeconomic status and African poverty.

AMHMS is ultimately changing the conversation around mental health in Africa and supporting communities in the pursuit of health equity. We strive to destigmatize mental illness and improve accessibility to mental health services and the infrastructure of health services delivery systems through the following methodologies: social marketing campaign, community engagement and social enterprise partnerships. The social marketing campaign creates an open forum for our community to access resources and engage in discussions about mental health. We host virtual webinars with mental health professionals and the Unscripted Podcast discussing various topics related to addressing the state of mental health in Africa and overcoming the barriers to care.

AMHMS currently has 5 different Country Teams located in Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, United Kingdom, and the United States. Country Teams lead the community engagement component in their respective communities by implementing health programming and education for high school and college students. Our social enterprise maximizes corporate and professional partnerships within Africa & the Diaspora to provide mental health resources, training and counseling services to the communities we service.

AMHMS serves the young adults, ages 14-35, in Africa and the African Diaspora by providing mental health education in schools and linkages to mental health services. Late adolescence and early adulthood is the most vulnerable period for the onset of mental illnesses. Living in a culture that stigmatizes mental illness can certainly be difficult to navigate. AMHMS provides an open forum for young adults to seek the resources they need. This project was designed to emulate a collaborative partnership model because we believe in the power of unity. By collaborating with local organizations with aligning goals, we can amplify the impact of our work. Our collaborative approach allows us to create local networks and highlight the work of other non-profit organizations that promote mental health awareness. We partner with minority groups at Predominantly White Institutions (PWI) to integrate safe spaces and for minority students to discuss mental health. We create a network for young professionals to encourage each other and learn to navigate professional spaces while prioritizing their wellbeing and wellness. We provide resources to psychiatric hospitals in Africa and interact with patients and to gain a better understanding of their experiences of living with and maintaining their mental illness.

Africa’s Mental Health Matters is a culturally competent initiative with the goal of destigmatizing mental illness and promoting mental health awareness through education and social connectedness. Many young adults of African descent have been stifled by the stigma surrounding mental health and this project aims to empower and amplify their voices to share their stories and begin the journey towards healing. The Elevate Prize focuses on elevating issues and their solutions by building awareness and driving action to solve the most difficult problems of our world and that is exactly what Africa’s Mental Health Matters strives to do.

I’ll never forget the semester I spent in Ghana while attending New York University’s (NYU) Global Public Health program because it was pivotal in helping me understand my purpose. I visted a psychiatric hospital where I interacted with many patients and learned their stories. Most had been abandoned by their loved ones because of cultural/religious beliefs, social stigmas, misconceptions of their mental health condition  or lack of finances. In addition, these patients were experienced with neglect, poor healthcare services or a lack of resources to properly maintain their illness. I was frustrated by this and immediately felt compelled to investigate why the system was failing these patients and to find a potential solution. I dedicated my thesis to focus on the effectiveness of social marketing campaigns to change attitudes and beliefs of mental illness and encourage mental health treatment amongst youth. After months and months of hard work, Africa’s Mental Health Matters was born. Since its inception three years ago, AMHMS has also started country teams in Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda the UK and the US. Through this initiative I hope to continue to tour the continent of Africa and the Diaspora, showing young people why mental health matters.

I am passionate about this project because I’ve witnessed people share their mental health experiences and stories through this platform and express their gratitude for having the opportunity to utilize this platform to speak freely, without shame or stigma. I’ve also witnessed people network and connect to mental health professionals that they didn't know existed in their own country. We’ve received countless emails and messages from young adults all over the world sharing their excitement that this initiative exists and express eagerness in waiting for this initiative to come to their home country. I’ve spoken to people who have lost their loved ones to suicide and wished that they had discovered this project alot sooner to feel empowered to encourage their loved one to seek the proper help or support. What once started as a community service project has grown into an organization and what keeps me going is the impact we're making in the lives of people in our communities. Something I once thought was impossible, is happening right before my eyes and I refuse to stop working to change the conversation around mental health.

Being the CEO/founder of Africa’s Health Matters Organization, I have established 5 country teams and recruited a total of 40 active volunteers.  For the past 3 years I’ve been responsible for establishing partnerships and identifying sponsorship opportunities, planning and organizing annual conferences, and creating and implementing an organizational structure to achieve sustainability. In addition, I have fundraised 10,000 US dollars, in order to fulfill financial responsibilities for our conference. 

My passion is further evident in my previous work experiences, working on the continent of Africa with NGOs and my masters in global public health. I am an experienced global public health professional with about 4 years of experience providing high impact development, technical assistance, data evaluation, and program implementation services. I have worked with non-profit organizations working to improve the health and wellness of young adults, women and children. Through international development, I've been able to use my skills and experiences to make an impact on middle to low-income countries as well as low- resource communities in the United States. My desire is to continue advocating for underserved populations that lack access to  healthcare and/or the proper resources or education to live healthy fulfilling lives.

When I first started this initiative, I began planning the first AMHMS Mental Health Conference in Ghana as a community service project. At the time, I was living in Côte d’Ivoire and only had about 4 months to plan and it was extremely tough. Traveling back and forth was expensive and I eventually exhausted my personal funds. I decided to reach out to corporate organizations to seek sponsorship with no luck. I then was forced to create a Go-Fund Me account and raise funds. My goal was just $3,000 US dollars but a week before the conference I was $1,000 short. Three days before the conference, I reached out to a pastor who I had met a couple months prior to moving and he had expressed interest in mental health, specifically in Ghana. I wrote him an email explaining my vision for the conference and he agreed to donate the remaining $1,000 US dollars. Many people I spoke to thought it would be impossible to raise this in a couple days but I preserved and exhausted every avenue I could to bring my goal to fruition.

For the 2nd annual Conference in Lagos, Nigeria I decided to recruit a planning committee. Based on my experience planning the conference in Ghana I knew I would require a team to help me take the conference to the next level. I was fortunate to find 14 well-seasoned, dedicated, passionate mental health advocates and professionals to volunteer. For 12 months, we tirelessly worked as a team to plan the conference and make sure that we met all of our objectives and goals. As we worked together, I encouraged them to maximize their strengths and abilities and empowered them to improve upon their weaknesses. I made sure to publicly and privately acknowledge them for all their hard work. I was astonished when all 14 planning committee members decided to continue working with AMHMS and help establish the country teams. Many of them said they were so willing to invest in this initiative because they were so inspired by the passion, dedication, and hard work I was willing to invest in addressing mental health on the African continent and the Diaspora. Last year I had the privilege and honor of receiving the Rising Shero award from KIB foundation, for pioneering this initiative.

Africa’s Health Matters Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focusing on improving awareness of non-communicable diseases on the African continent.  Our mission is to make an impact on middle and low income countries to advocate for people that lack access to healthcare, necessary resources and education. We are committed to empowering young adults on the continent of Africa and in the Diaspora to make healthy choices and change attitudes and beliefs that may lead to unhealthy behaviors.

Our project is innovative in that we are creating networks across the continent of Africa and within the Diaspora to solve the issues surrounding mental health. Through our unique platform we are creating a unique partnership among a consortium of schools, government organizations, private corporations, clinical service providers, experts in the field and potential funders to build a pipeline of services and support for young adults in Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, and the Diaspora (US/UK). Additionally, we are partnering with organizations to apply new technologies to shed light on existing mental health organizations and providers in the communities we serve and improve access to mental health resources for community members.

Given the high burden of mental illness in Africa and the diaspora among young adults, mental health related stigma and discrimination], the lack of mental health seeking behavior and the risk of developing a mental illness, an intervention is needed to address attitudes towards mental illness and encourage health- seeking behaviors.  It has been well documented that social media constitutes an immensely powerful source of social influence , with an ability to help individuals frame opinions on topics they care about, or to alter attitudes and perceptions around events and issues . With Facebook harboring over a billion users, over 2.5 billion active users of social media today, and with expanding penetration in high-, medium-, and low-income countries ,these technologies can be construed to be a key element of any technology-facilitated mental health solution, One of the biggest strengths that social media provides revolves around its ability to reach large populations quickly, inexpensively, and with low effort. Consequently, in recent years, a more developed use of social media for improving mental health has been through raising awareness, conducting outreach, and forecasting trends. AMHMS utilizes our social media platforms, Country ambassadors/ volunteers, trained mental health professionals, stakeholders, social influencers, young adults and students in order to improve attitudes and behaviors towards mental illness and destigmatize mental illness, as well as encourage young adults to seek treatment if needed. Through our pre/post surveys conducted before and after our annual conference and community engagement activities, we are able to identify the number of participants that improved their attitudes and health-seeking behvaiors towards mental illness after being exposed to our initiative. By establishing this platform or network, young adults are able to continuously refer to us for their mental health needs. Ultimately, our goal is to increase knowledge and change the perceptions towards mental health in Africa and the diaspora among young adults.

Through our social media engagement, community engagement, and social enterprise components we are currently serving 5,000 people on the African continent and in the Diaspora. We hope to increase this number by another 5,000 in the coming year. In the next 5 years, we plan to extend our capacity and increase our reach through our mental health reduction program, technological app development, and community engagement with churches, prisons, and domestic & sexual abuse survivors. We hope to steadily increase our reach to average an additional 5,000 people per year. Thus, we expect to directly serve 25,000 people in five years.

In the next one year, we will focus on building our social enterprise capacity in all of our Country teams through our Corporate Mental Health Training, Mental Health/Well-being Apps, AMHM’s apparel line and Mental Health risk reduction Training program in barbershops/ beauty salons. 

In next five years, our organization plans to establish a Health & Wellness Center that employs a comprehensive care model and provides services for mental health, physical health, and nutrition. Our goal is to create a community hub where people in developing countries can access their nutritional needs, customized to their countries diet, their physical needs, providing a variety of physical fitness opportunities, and lastly their mental health needs, providing counseling and a means of therapy. We believe this is an opportunity to contribute to a healthy and productive society. The goal is to encourage and motivate people to develop a healthy lifestyle and enhance the quality of work life. This is also an opportunity for our organization to provide local job opportunities and hire local staff and licensed professionals to run Africa’s Health Matters center.

Some barriers that exist that affect us from being able to achieve our goals in the next 1-5 years are as follows:

1. lack of resources, both financial and material 
2. contractual integrity
3. cultural and religious bias
4. Buy in from public sector
5. adherence to regulations to operate health &wellness center
6. Quality talent acquisition
7. Current Insurance Scheme
8. identifying the ideal target population for implementation of Health &wellness center

Some ways to address these barriers and overcome them are as follows: 

• Stakeholder engagement
• holding focus groups & having  open dialogue w/ the government, training institutions, schools, tertiary education institutions, & churches
• Communicating with mental health stakeholders In country
• Fundraising/ reaching out to investors & applying for grants
• Conducting a Needs assessment In country 
• Hiring a consultant that has expertise with policy and regualtion

AMHMS recognizes that collaboration and partnerships are central to our approach to impact social change. We have partnered with Sproutly Support Services to support the development of digital cognitive behavioral therapy solutions for our clients and communities that our organizations serve. Our community engagement component has created partnerships with 10 schools in each country, 2 local psych hospitals, 2 private corporations. We provided panelists to speak about the importance of mental health in the black community at American University, New York University and for Twitter’s Black History Month & Mental Health event. We’ve also partnered with Yale University’s Young African Scholars Program for a virtual mental health event with over 400 students on the continent of Africa. We’ve hired interns from the University of Chicago to work on the social media and web design team and created a forum for stakeholders to discuss how to reach vulnerable youth in Ghana in regards to mental health with doctoral students from Georgetown University.

Our path to financial Sustainability is through continuous fundraising, grant funding and the development of our Social Enterprise, primarily focusing on...

• Corporate Mental Health Training-partnering with local businesses and corporations to provide mental health education to employees, essentially encouraging a productive, profitable, healthy workforce. We will provide mental health professionals that will conduct sessions that address mental health in a personal and professional dimension.

• Mental Health/Well-being Apps- By partnering with these apps AMHMS will make our mental resources available to users & in turn a percentage of all the revenue made from subscribers will go towards the initiative.

• AMHM’s apparel - We will expand our apparel line and have vendors in each country team that were present in.

• Mental Health risk reduction Training program in barbershops/ beauty salons- We will train barbers and beauty salon stylists as counselors in their communities in order to desensitize the process of seeking counseling.

We established a corporate partnership with Global Accelerex, in which they were able to give 10,000 US Dollars. The remaining funding we've received in terms of generating revenue has come from the sales of shirts, in which we have generated about 3,000 US dollars. 

Corporate Sponsorship- 20,000 US Dollars

Grants- 100,000 US dollars

Fundraising- 10,000 US dollars

Budget

CEO Salary- 75,000 Annual Salary

2 Project Staff in each country team- 40,000

• Country Ambassadors

2 Administrative Staff in each country team- 30,000

Annual Conference- 15,000 in person (5,000 virtually)

Materials/Supplies for each Country Team- 10,000

Venue/ Event Space for Each Country Team- 20,000

Marketing/promotional Items for each country-8,000

Honorarium for guest Speakers- 5,000

Contracted Mental health Therapists/Clinicians-15,000

Total Cost of- 218,000 US dollars

The reason I'm applying for the Elevate prize is because I believe that we've achieved more than I could have ever imagined within these past 3 years, just by utilizing our own resources, knowledge and network. However, as an organization we've reached a very pivotal stage, where we need the proper support to get to the next level and build our capacity. I truly believe in this initiative, so much that I've dedicated a whole year to solely focusing on the growth and expansion of this initiative. I've sacrificed time, money, and resources and if I had to do it again, I wouldn't do anything differently. To have 40 individuals/ volunteers across the globe believe in this initiative and work tirelessly to make sure our work continues, keeps me going. As a leader I'm obliged to keep on trying and to keep on working until I'm able to support them as much as much as they support this initiative. When i was informed about the Elevate prize and read about the requirements to apply, I immediately felt Africa's Mental Health Matters had a chance to really share our story and gain the support we need to go to the next level. I owe this application to my team, supporters, parents, and anyone dealing with mental illness in Africa or in the diaspora.I choose to amplify and elevate voices that have been unheard or even forgotten, mental health is a priority and I won't stop working until we make it one.

Essentially we need support on further developing our funding and revenue model and really ensuring that we are moving in the right direction in terms of sustainability. I would also like to continue to develop my leadership skills and further help my team members continue to grow as they work with the organization. Also, we need help further developing our monitoring and evaluation process. I believe we can do alot more and build our capacity, apart from doing just utilizing  pre/post surveys.