Lay-Delivered WHO Problem Management Plus (PM+)
RCTClinical Trial
Formal mental health care services are severely lacking in low-resource industrial manufacturing settings. Without accessible, evidence-based psychological support, vulnerable migrant workers cannot cope effectively with adversity and emotional distress.
Picture this
Training senior factory workers to deliver simplified cognitive behavioral therapy techniques transforms peers into psychological first responders, akin to teaching community members basic first aid so injuries can be treated immediately without waiting for a hospital doctor.
What the evidence says
Trained senior mentors lead weekly CBT sessions and assign behavioral homework tasks, such as conversing with two unfamiliar coworkers during lunch breaks; empirical evaluation results are forthcoming.
- Who was studied
- 2,000 female garment factory workers (ages 18–30) employed by Shahi Exports in Bangalore, India.
- How
- Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) evaluating a context-adapted WHO PM+ cognitive behavioral therapy intervention delivered by trained senior peers over 8 weeks with actionable homework assignments.
What to do
Adapt WHO PM+ cognitive behavioral training for lay peer delivery within industrial worker housing to expand access to scalable psychosocial care.
From the source
"The PM+ intervention is based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and consists of training recipients in low-resource settings to assist others with adversity."
Alleviating_Loneliness_Among_Female_Migrant_Garment_Workers_in_India.pdf