CELVEA

CELVEA is a Mental health care service platform that provides access to mental health professionals for people in marginalized communities.  

The aim of creating Celvea is to breach the gap between people experiencing mental illness in less developed or marginalized communities and professionals who provide treatment for people having mental illnesses.

In a country like Nigeria, where 1 in 4 (over 50 million people) are affected by some form of metal illness it is important to have a medium where people experiencing mental illness can communicate their needs/struggles to professionals who will understand them and provide useful solutions and treatment.

Shortage of health care professionals has been a major cause for the increase in mental illness in the country. With only about 350 psychiatrists currently serving an estimated 200 million Nigerians, four psychiatric nurses, 0.02 psychologists and social workers per 100,000 Nigerians. They are grossly over worked and as a result they leave the country for greener pastures abroad.

My solution (Celvea) is aimed at bridging the gap between people experiencing mental illness and professionals providing care for mental health in less privileged communities by using the process of task shifting.

 The idea of task shifting is quite simple. When there is a shortage of health care professionals in a community, we use whosoever is available by training them to provide a range of health care interventions. It is used in several places across the world, where ordinary people are trained on how to deliver babies and diagnose and treat early pneumonia to create an effect. If ordinary people could be trained to deliver such complex healthcare interventions, they could also do the same with mental healthcare.

My solution is basically an app/web app where people could be trained online by certified mental health professionals to deliver therapy to patients in communities where there are scarcity of psychologists or physiotherapists. This therapy would also be provided on the same online platform.

My solution is suited mainly for communities experiencing shortage of mental health professionals. Studies have shown that mental heath crisis are more prevalent in low income communities. My solution would be crucial in providing both access and more social workers for the community.

Being the only team member and team lead, I have worked with a foundation that works to fight the stigma people with mental health face in Nigeria. I learned a lot from them and that knowledge has fueled my passion to bring this solution (celvea) to reality.

I have conducted surveys within my community and among my peers to understand how they handle mental stress and how they address it.

I also worked with a foundation called "Asido" in Nigeria, that helps address mental health issues in Nigeria together with stigmas that accompany mental health crisis.