We Are All the Backbone of Our Community’s Mental Health

During my visits across Mukono District in central Uganda and surrounding rural districts, one thing became clear: The backbone of mental health care here is made of volunteers and mission-driven community members. Village Health Teams (VHTs) travel long distances on foot to deliver essential care, accompany community members to clinics to ensure they receive specialized treatment, and provide ongoing follow-up within communities to support full recovery. They are often the first—and only—point of contact for mental health support in rural areas.

Community organizations are absolutely crucial in providing training, supervision, and structured programs that empower these volunteers. Among the ones I visited, a few stood out for their dedication to building capacity and engaging communities: StrongMinds, which runs group interpersonal therapy (IPT), a short-term counseling that helps women tackle depression by strengthening social connections and coping skills; NamaWellness, which also uses IPT through community clinics and VHTs; Omni Med Uganda, which takes a structured approach to recruit, train, and supervise volunteers to address stress, social isolation, and the psychosocial effects of poverty; and YouBelong, which supports patients with psychosis by offering guidance before and after discharge to reduce stigma, support families in reintegrating patients, and prevent relapse.

What links all of these organizations is their work in destigmatizing and educating communities about mental health and behavioral health issues.

Speaking with these programs and volunteers has taught me how mental health care in Uganda begins far from hospitals. In the face of limited funding, staffing shortages, and stigma, it is the committed members in the community, no matter how resourced, who make vital services accessible. Providing the lifeline for communities often not considered in formal healthcare systems, they are as diverse as the populations that they represent. 

My conversations with these volunteers and leaders serve as a decisive reminder that we can each be a committed member of our community in our own way.