Community-Initiated Care

The mental health systems in East Africa has long been inadequate, with fragmentation, overburdening, and underfunding contributing to inequitable access, high costs, and stigma related to mental health and substance use issues. As a result, there is a growing and unmet need for mental health care in the region.

Community-driven solutions are essential for providing accessible and contextual mental health care to all people, including those from less visible and marginalized groups.

  • Community Care: Going Beyond Self-Care

    Community-initiated care mechanisms help ensure that mental health interventions are designed with the local context in mind, incorporating cultural practices and beliefs. This approach empowers communities to take an active role in their own healing, resulting in sustainable and effective solutions. By involving a diverse range of stakeholders in the planning and implementation of mental health care, community-driven solutions help to address the unique needs and challenges faced by each community.

  • Seeing Self Care as Part of Community Care

    Community care asks individuals to go one step further and show compassion to others, especially those who may not be practicing self-care. It recognizes that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to taking care of ourselves and encourages individuals to be proactive in creating and implementing community-driven solutions to ensure all individuals, including marginalized groups, have access to relevant and contextual mental health care.

There is a gap in a lot of community programming. GSN’s work is designed to support healing so that other investments can be realized.  

Our Solutions

  • Well-being and Resliance (WebR) Encounters

    A WebR Encounter expands practices related to trauma, justice, peacebuilding, spirituality, and security, and emphasizes the importance of integrating these concepts.

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  • Peer Support Circles

    GSN provides virtual and physical peer support circles, which we consider an essential way to create preventive and sustainable mental health programming.

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  • Peer Supervision

    A collaborative approach to supervision where colleagues with similar levels of experience and expertise come together to reflect on their practice, support each other in problem-solving, and improve their professional skills.

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Circle Keeper, Kwale

“I am more sensitive to signs of trauma [and] able to understand people better and help them.”

Circle Keeper, Mombasa

“KQ has increased my bond with my family and friends and improved my communication with them.”

Become a Certified Circle Keeper.

Certified Healing-Centred Circle Keepers (CKs) are trained by GSN's Master Trainers to lead the 12-Week Circle program and are responsible for monitoring the quality of the conversation and creating a safe space for their circle. Certified CKs complete 72 required training hours, 120 practice hours guiding community circles, 5 graded assessments, 10 hours of mentoring, and 48 hours of peer supervision. Their role as leaders at the community level is significant.