IMPlementation of Evidence Based Facility and Community Interventions to Reduce the Treatment Gap for depRESSion

Community intervention strategies will be delivered by community volunteers (called Sangathis - which means companion in Konkani, one of the local languages) to i) enhance demand for the HAP treatment and ii) promote engagement with, and completion of, the HAP treatment. The community intervention is co-produced with local community members and includes strategies such as activities to increase awareness about depression (community meetings, street plays and health camps), and dissemination of psycho-educational materials (i.e., leaflets and posters), identify people with possible depression in the community, and facilitate access to HAP in the health centres. Additionally, the Sangathis will coordinate continuing care of people receiving HAP, through home visits to encourage behavioural activation, homework completion and following up with the counsellor, and engaging family members to support the patient in achieving treatment goals.

HAP includes the following strategies: psychoeducation, behavioural assessment, activity monitoring, activity structuring and scheduling, activation of social networks, and problem-solving. HAP will be delivered in an individual format. It entails three phases of treatment, delivered over six to eight sessions, each lasting up to 40 minutes, with the sessions being at weekly intervals. Sessions will be delivered face-to-face, at the health centre where the counsellors already work.