Wow! I cannot believe this is the final week of my practicum. This summer has flown by and I find myself working to finish my final deliverable for the UNC Friendship Bench Adaptation to Improve Mental Health & HIV Care Engagement Outcomes Among PLWH and PWID in Vietnam (VITAL) team. This project is basically a narrative/ literature review summarizing the existing literature on the topic of if/how psychotherapy impacts antiretroviral therapy adherence in people living with HIV. While there is a lot of information and research on the importance of addressing mental health among people living with HIV, there are fewer projects that have specifically looked at the impact on adherence and whether these changes are maintained overtime. I have enjoyed diving into the literature as it has helped me gain a better understanding of the population and barriers to mental health treatment.
I was initially drawn to the VITAL team due to my interest in global mental health and as this practicum draws to a conclusion, I have to say I have learned a great deal about common mental disorders, other comorbidities and how they are bidirectional in nature. This project is especially interesting because in one arm the Friendship Bench intervention is delivered by professional counselors and in the other lay counselors are utilized. This practice of task shifting is of great interest because of the huge shortage of professional mental health providers in many low-and middle-income countries (LMICs).
As I move into my final year at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, I am more confident and excited to gain practical skills that can be implemented in the field. My main takeaway from the VITAL practicum is that while some skills can be taught in the classroom, for the most part, you have to jump in and figure things out. Ask questions and don’t be afraid to make mistakes along the way. At this point, I plan to continue to work with the VITAL team during the upcoming semester and dive more into the results that we have been working to collect during the pilot study.
Cheers!
-Sage