Our Recent Work

Mental health issues are prevalent across the lifespan. In most settings globally, mental health problems are stigmatized and local healthcare segregates caring for people into separated mental and physical systems of care, leaving many people without treatment. Integrating primary care and mental health services is a prime strategy for widespread implementation to help people globally. To do so requires local leadership and advocacy with communities to end this obsolete separation and move toward achievable integration of physical and mental healthcare.

In partnership with WONCA Working Party on Mental Health, the Farley Health Policy Center developed and piloted a virtual leadership and advocacy program to enable early career family physicians to lead and advocate for the integration of mental health services into their local practices.

In virtual monthly sessions, the program curriculum covered introduction to mental health integration and practice transformation; leadership; team-based care; measuring and monitoring change; burnout and resilience; advocacy; and addressing stigma. Each scholar led an independent project to apply learnings with mentorship from a senior family physician mentor. The initial alpha cohort was held in 2020 and a beta cohort met in 2023-2024. Twenty family doctors from 16 low- and middle-income countries successfully completed the program. Findings from the program evaluation can be found here:

• Advocacy training for young family doctors in primary mental health care: a report and global call to action
• Beta cohort program evaluation (PDF)

Scholars would recommend the program to their colleagues as it provides valuable knowledge, tools, and networking opportunities. Mentors and the mentoring triad were highly valued. The course empowered scholars to take action beyond clinical work and boosted their confidence, while providing inspiration by learning and sharing global experiences shared by with peers and mentors.