Early Intervention in Psychosis: Contributions to individual, family, community and national development for Zimbabwe

With the growing evidence base from the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America, Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) has demonstrated its strength in that not only does it help mainstream Mental Health... [ view full abstract ]

With the growing evidence base from the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America, Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) has demonstrated its strength in that not only does it help mainstream Mental Health Services in promoting a person’s psycho-social wellbeing, but overtime it also results in easing of pressure on a country’s health budget. Notable contributions from United Kingdom EIP services include reducing hospital stay and or admission, minimising relapse as well as reducing suicide rates from 15% to as low as 1% in patients experiencing their first episode psychosis. These contributions by the United Kingdom’s EIP services inspired Tamaryn Palmer from the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust in partnership with Zimbabwe National Association for Mental Health to introduce an EIP programme catering for young adults between the ages of 18 – 35 years. Though the Zimbabwean government provides universal free mental health services, it has always lacked a specialist and proactive mental health service that intervenes early as well as financial resources to adequately promote the mental health of its citizens. As a developing nation whose health budget is approximately US$281.9 million catering for a population of about 15 million, Zimbabwe stands to benefit more from an Early Intervention in Psychosis programme. This paper presents a discussion on the benefits Zimbabwe can derive from its EIP programme and how this would contribute towards individual, family, community and national development.