Stepped care for depression at integrated chronic care centers (IC3) in Malawi: study protocol for a stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Malawi is a low-income country in sub-Saharan Africa that has limited resources to address a significant burden of disease-including HIV/AIDS. Additionally, depression is a leading cause of disability in the country but largely remains undiagnosed and untreated. The lack of cost-effective, scalable solutions is a fundamental barrier to expanding depression treatment. Against this backdrop, one major success has been the scale-up of a network of more than 700 HIV clinics, with over half a million patients enrolled in antiretroviral therapy (ART). As a chronic care system with dedicated human resources and infrastructure, this presents a strategic platform for integrating depression care and responds to a robust evidence base outlining the bi-directionality of depression a

SUBMITTER: McBain RK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8444539 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature