Maternal mental health disorders are a significant public health concern in Mozambique, with limited access to specialist services in rural areas such as Gaza Province. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a task-shifted, community health worker (CHW)-led group counselling intervention to address this treatment gap. A quasi-experimental design was employed, recruiting pregnant women and mothers of children under two from eight communities. Four intervention communities received six weekly group sessions facilitated by trained CHWs, while four served as comparison sites. Mental health was assessed using validated symptom scales at baseline and post-intervention, supplemented by qualitative interviews exploring participant experiences. Analysis revealed a statistically significant reduction in symptoms of common mental disorders among the intervention group relative to the comparison group. Specifically, 68% of intervention participants reported clinically meaningful improvement, compared to 22% in the comparison group. Qualitative findings highlighted perceived reductions in isolation and increased social support. The study concludes that a CHW-led group counselling model is an effective strategy for improving maternal mental health in this low-resource setting. It demonstrates the potential of task-sharing to increase access to care and recommends consideration of scale-up within primary healthcare systems in Gaza Province and similar regions, contingent upon ongoing supervision and refresher training for CHWs to ensure sustainability.
Muianga et al. (Sat,) studied this question.