StrongMinds

Solution Summary

Around the world, women experience depression at twice the rate of men. And of the millions who struggle with depression, many live in low and middle income countries where mental health services are chronically under-resourced or unavailable. StrongMinds tackles this issue by treating impoverished African women suffering from depression.

StrongMinds’ model uses group interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT-G) to facilitate treatment by community health workers. IPT-G is a proven depression treatment supported by clinical trial success in Africa.

Market Opportunity

• Over 66 million African women suffer from depression.
• 85 percent of these women have no access to treatment.
• IPT-G is an effective, low-cost means of treating and preventing mental illness.

Highlights

• 20,000 patients treated as of October 2017
• 72 percent of patients are depression-free six months after treatment
• Total treatment cost is $110 per patient

Organization Goals

• Treat 80,000 women by 2019
• Reduce per patient treatment cost from $110 to $84 by 2019
• Further diversify funding streams by 2020

Existing Partnerships

StrongMinds currently partners with:

• BRAC-Uganda, Global Development Incubator, and Ugandan Ministry of Health for distribution
• Medic Mobile for technical support
• citiesRISE for consultation

Partnership Goals

StrongMinds seeks partnerships to:

• Collaborate with organizations in Africa to expand treatment program
• Engage philanthropists to raise up to $6 million in funding by 2019
• Consult with impact experts on the value of program evaluation control trials