Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jun;16(6):964-973.
doi: 10.1080/17441692.2021.1912137. Epub 2021 Apr 11.

Alleviating psychological distress and promoting mental wellbeing among adolescents living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, during and after COVID-19

Moses Okumu  1 , Thabani Nyoni  2 , William Byansi  2
Affiliations

Alleviating psychological distress and promoting mental wellbeing among adolescents living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, during and after COVID-19

Moses Okumu et al. Glob Public Health. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

COVID-19 social control measures (e.g. physical distancing and lockdowns) can have both immediate (social isolation, loneliness, anxiety, stress) and long-term effects (depression, post-traumatic stress disorder) on individuals' mental health. This may be particularly true of adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) and their caregivers - populations already overburdened by intersecting stressors (e.g. psychosocial, biomedical, familial, economic, social, or environmental). Addressing the adverse mental health sequelae of COVID-19 among ALHIV requires a multi-dimensional approach that at once (a) economically empowers ALHIV and their households and (b) trains, mentors, and supervises community members as lay mental health services providers. Mental health literacy programming can also be implemented to increase mental health knowledge, reduce stigma, and improve service use among ALHIV. Schools and HIV care clinics offer ideal environments for increasing mental health literacy and improving access to mental health services.

Keywords: Adolescents; COVID-19; HIV; mental health; sub-Saharan Africa.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Aborode A, Anifowoshe O, Ayodele TI, Iretiayo AR, & David OO (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on education in sub-Saharan Africa. Preprints.org. Advance online publication. 10.20944/preprints202007.0027.v1. - DOI
    1. Adejumo OA, Malee KM, Ryscavage P, Hunter J, & Taiwo BO (2015). Contemporary issues on the epidemiology and antiretroviral adherence of HIV-infected adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa: A narrative review. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 18(1), 20049. 10.7448/ias.18.1.20049 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Akullian AN, Mukose A, Levine GA, & Babigumira JB (2016). People living with HIV travel farther to access healthcare: A population-based geographic analysis from rural Uganda. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 19(1), 20171. 10.7448/ias.19.1.20171 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Altevogt B, Hanson S, Ssali Z, & Cuff P (2010). Mental, neurological and substance use disorders in Sub-Saharan Africa: Reducing the treatment gap, improving quality of care. National Academies Press. - PubMed
    1. Aragona M, Barbato A, Cavani A, Costanzo G, & Mirisola C (2020). Negative impacts of COVID-19 lockdown on mental health service access and follow-up adherence for immigrants and individuals in socio-economic difficulties. Public Health, 186, 52–56. 10.1016/j.puhe.2020.06.055 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources