Social connection is crucial for good health. But the U.S. is facing a loneliness epidemic alongside a shortage of mental health providers able to take on more patients. A lack of social infrastructure to cultivate connection and reduced access to care is increasingly common in areas with low incomes and rural places. Facing similar challenges, Zimbabwe developed The Friendship Bench program in 2007. Local clinics began training community-based health workers to provide problem-solving therapy outdoors on wooden benches within the ground of their clinics. These new therapists are typically older women referred to as grandmothers, and they counsel people suffering from common mental illnesses, particularly in areas where there is less access to care. Participating grandmothers benefit from improved health, compared to those not involved, and the community benefits from accessible mental health support Friendship Benches have been implemented in a handful of major U.S. cities—including NYC, New Orleans, and Washington D.C.—but to create equitable impact, we need more of these programs in the places that need them most.
To help address the global social isolation epidemic we’re suggesting we put a bench on every corner!: https://www.sociallifeproject.org/campaign-to-put-a-bench-on-every-corner/
hi karabi. couldn’t agree more. perhaps it’s time to also consider implementing at scale another proven method to promote emotional connection, problem solving and solidarity care that has a 40 year track record starting in the favelas of brazil and now in 40 countries including the US. integrative community therapy (ict) is based on the work of paolo freire, gregory bateson and indigenous healers. www.visiblehandscollaborative.org thompsonks@upmc.edu.
Senior Director, Global Ideas for U.S. Solutions, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
1moCurious to learn about other solutions from around the world tackling barriers to health equity? Explore the spotlight examples from @RWJF’s Global Trends in Health Equity report: https://rwjf.ws/3vNWO3H