Ā鶹ֱ²„ researchers will lead an international study in South Africa aimed at implementing innovative community-delivered interventions that address mental health and substance use-related barriers to staying engaged in treatment for chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Led by Director , the project will run for five years after being awarded a $2.1 million National Health and Medical Research Council Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases Strengthening Health Systems grant.The project is being conducted in partnership with the South African Medical Research Council.
Professor Myers said despite healthcare being available, many people stopped treatment for chronic conditions because untreated mental health or substance use disorders made it harder to stay engaged.
āCommunity health workers already visit people in their homes, so theyāre often the first to see when someone has missed appointments or stopped taking medication but they havenāt always had the training or support to respond effectively to mental health and substance use issues,ā Professor Myers said.
āThis study will test what happens when those home visits are backed by better training and peer support for mental health and substance use recovery, so community care teams can recognise the problem early, respond without stigma and help people reduce mental health and substance use barriers to staying connected to care instead of falling through the cracks.ā
The study will test a program named Siyakhana – an isiXhosa word meaning āwe build each other upā. It involves skills-based mental health and substance use training for community health workers and embeds peer recovery coaches with lived experience directly into community health teams to deliver additional mental health and substance use supports to patients.
The study will follow the outcomes of more than 5000 patients, measuring whether the approach helps people reāengage with care and delivers value for money at a healthāsystem level.
Professor Myers said South Africa was the best place to conduct the study before applying the findings to Australia.
āAs South Africa already has a large, established community health worker program, this is the ideal place for testing this health system strengthening intervention properly, at scale and much faster than we currently could in Australia where community health worker programs are only beginning to be implemented,ā Professor Myers said.
Professor Myers said the approach responded to pressures facing both countries.
āAustralia faces rising chronic disease rates, workforce shortages and growing demand for communityābased care, particularly in regional and underserved areas,ā she said.
āBy generating strong, realāworld evidence in South Africa, we can guide smarter, more costāeffective decisions about how Australia expands community health workers and peerāsupported care.ā
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