Mental Health

Integrating Mental Health Care

Supporting the Ministry of Health (MOH), PIH-SL is transforming mental health services in Sierra Leone by integrating them into general health care across community, primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, launching the country’s first mental health helpline, and pioneering the first psychiatric residency program for medical doctors. In Kono District, the team of trained clinicians and counselors provide a comprehensive model of care within Koidu Government Hospital, Wellbody Clinic, and the community. In 2024, 2,169 mental health outreach activities took place across communities in Kono District. The team continues to implement community-based psychotherapy interventions such as the Common Elements Treatment Approach (CETA), which addresses multiple problems in a short time frame with easy-to-understand guidance. Seventy-six patients received care through CETA this year. Through a robust team of community health workers, homeless individuals living with mental illness are connected to psychosocial counseling, rehabilitation activities, and income-generating projects. 

Mental Health Helpline

In 2022, PIH-SL in collaboration with MOH launched the country’s first toll-free, mental health helpline, enabling patients across the country to access care. Callers are supported through the helpline by linking them to mental health care, medical care, and social services, as needed.

Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital

Starting in 2018, in partnership with MOH, PIH-SL transformed the Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital (SLPTH) into a hub for the delivery of high-quality mental health care. The facility is the oldest psychiatric hospital in sub-Saharan Africa and admits some of the country’s most vulnerable people who face stigma and abandonment from long, untreated mental health conditions. PIH co-developed Sierra Leone’s first psychiatric residency program for medical doctors at the SLPTH in partnership with MOH and the West African College of Physicians (WACP). Officially accredited in July 2022, the residency program utilizes a training curriculum based on the WACP’s curriculum and welcomed its first class of seven Sierra Leonean residents. In 2024, the Residency successfully launched key rotations in child and adolescent mental health, community psychiatry, and neurology. These external rotations equip Residents with essential knowledge and skills as they prepare to lead the next generation of psychiatric care in the country.

Drug Rehabilitation

In response to President Julius Maada Bio’s declaration of a state of emergency on substance abuse, PIH-SL, in collaboration with MOH, opened the drug treatment and rehabilitation center at the SLPTH in June 2024. The center, which houses 30 beds, is staffed by a multidisciplinary team, including a drug addiction specialist, one clinical psychologist, three psychiatrists, and seven resident psychiatrists, along with a dedicated cadre of mental health nurses and care providers.