Current Research Projects

Strategies to strengthen the provision of mental health care at Primary Health Care level: Recent attempts to deinstitutionalise people with serious mental illness as enshrined in South African Mental Health Care Act No.17 of 2002 coupled with lack of adequate care at Primary Health Care (PHC) level led to the Life Esidimeni tragedy. The Life Esidimeni tragedy highlights the desperate need to provide appropriate health care at the community level. Thus, CHP is assessing evidence on strategies to strengthen the management of mental illness at the PHC level, to inform policy and identify strategies that might be feasible and acceptable for South Africa. An Evidence Map of different strategies to strengthen mental illness management in the PHC setting has been developed.