Simbobway was reeling from a recent government crackdown, which tromatized millions and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Dixon's medical supervisor implored him to double down on his existing efforts and try to find a solution to the growing mental health crisis. His initial thoughts were in to work with trained nurses and doctors at the hospital. But i thought, my goodness, this can't be done by non professionals. Just bethore them. How about i start with just 14 grandmothers from this community and and see what we can do?
Dr. Dixon Chibanda, a psychiatrist in Zimbabwe, has been on a mission for years to help people gain access to mental healthcare in his community, where there's only one psychiatrist for every 1.5 million people. To bridge the gap and provide people with the help they need, Dixon turned to a rather unorthodox group for help: grandmothers.
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