What We Know, What We Don’t Know, and What We Need to Do
Cognitive deficits in schizophrenia can massively impact functionality and quality of life, furthering the importance of cognitive training. Despite the development of the field in Europe and in the United States, no programmes have been developed and tested in developing countries. Different cultur...al backgrounds, budget restrictions, and other difficulties may render treatment packages created in high income countries difficult for adoption by developing nations. We performed a pilot double-blind, randomized, controlled trial in order to investigate the efficacy and feasibility of an attention and memory training programme specially created in
a developing nation. The intervention used simple, widely available materials, required minimal infrastructure, and was conducted in groups.The sample included seventeen stable Brazilians with schizophrenia. Sessions were conducted weekly during five months. The cognitive training group showed significant improvements in inhibitory control and set-shifting over time. Both groups showed improvements in symptoms, processing speed, selective attention, executive function, and long-term visual memory. Improvements were found in the control group in long-term verbal memory and concentration. Our findings reinforce the idea that cognitive training in schizophrenia can be constructed using simple resources and infrastructure, facilitating its adoption by developing countries, and it may improve cognition.
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The 12 Core Concepts for Understanding Traumatic Stress Responses in Children and Families
provide a rationale for trauma-informed assessment and intervention. The Concepts cover a broad
range of points that practitioners and agencies should consider as they strive to assess, understand,
and assi...st trauma-exposed children, families, and communities in trauma-informed ways.
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Alcohol misuses
Substance use disorders
Chapter G.1
Mental disorders impose an enormous burden on society, accounting for almost one in three years lived with disability globally. •In addition to their health impact, mental disorders cause a significant economic burden due to lost economic output and the link between mental disorders and costly, po...tentially fatal conditions including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, HIV, and obesity.•80% of the people likely to experience an episode of a mental disorder in their lifetime come from low- and middle-income countries.• Two of the most common forms of mental disorders, anxiety and depression, are prevalent, disabling, and respond to a range of treatments that are safe and effective. Yet, owing to stigma and inadequate funding, these disorders are not being treated in most primary care and community settings.
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Gender-based violence is a life-threatening, global health and human rights issue that violates international human rights law and principles of gender equality. It is also a threat to lasting peace and an affront to our common humanity. United Nations Member States have called for urgent action to ...end GBV in emergencies, recognizing that in crises, the risk of GBV is heightened, particularly for women and adolescent girls.
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The SPPCHS project worked with the Ministry of Home Affairs to design a peer education program for prisons to provide knowledge, skills, and tools to prevent and respond to tuberculosis (TB) and HIV in prisons. AIDSFree held two training of trainers (TOT) in Dodoma to train 55 prison officers from 2...6 prison facilities to train prison staff and inmates on the new peer education program.
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