A globally recognised mental health initiative is launching in Sussex to support the emotional wellbeing of local migrants and minority ethnic communities.
The Friendship Bench - a simple wooden bench where trained community members provide confidential, culturally sensitive talking therapy - is being introduced as part of a new pilot project led by the Applied Research Collaboration Kent, Surrey and Sussex (ARC KSS).
Originally developed in Zimbabwe, by Professor Dixon Chibanda, the Friendship Bench is an internationally successful community-based mental health intervention that has helped thousands worldwide by placing mental health support in everyday public spaces. The approach trains lay health workers, - community members with lived experience - to offer one-on-one, problem-solving therapy to individuals struggling with anxiety, loneliness or depression.
Now, the ARC KSS is bringing this initiative to Sussex, targeting an urgent need to culturally relevant support services to support migrants and minority ethnic populations. as research shows that migrants and minority ethnic people typically experience higher rates of mental illness and poorer wellbeing compared to non-migrants and non-minority ethnic people.
This community-based approach responds to shortfalls in mental health primary care resources by building capacity and capability within communities. As part of the pilot, the ARC KSS has partnered with Diversity Resource International, a local non-profit social enterprise with expertise in supporting ethnically diverse and migrant communities in Sussex.
In March, a group of nine migrants and minority ethnic people connected to Diversity Resource International engaged in an intensive week of Friendship Bench training at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, delivered by Professor Dixon Chibanda, together with his colleague, Diana Ceccolini.
As a result of this training, attendees received certification and will fulfil the role of ‘lay mental health workers’ (originally referred to as the ‘grandmothers’ in Zimbabwe, and ‘benchers’ in an adaptation delivered in New York City), to support the pilot phase of the Sussex-based project.
The adoption of asset-based community development approaches to healthcare provision has increasing relevance and potential given the growing shortfall in primary care provision of mental health services observable at global, national and regional levels.
As preparations for the Sussex pilot continue, there has been interest in the project's development as published in a recent article in The Guardian.
For more information on the project, please contact
