Oct 16
8

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

By | Work update

Just like any global project, Erasmus+ KA2 MEGA was heavily affected by COVID-19 and the travelling restrictions caused by the pandemic. At the beginning of the year, MEGA was approaching the last and most important milestones of the project. Based on the initial project timeline, 2020 was going to be the final year to implement the remaining part of the project activities. Many activities that had already begun suddenly reached a critical stage and, stopping them completely, could cause long-term damage for the overall project. Unfortunately, one of the most critical deliverables – “Field testing of the MEGA app” – was also among the activities whose execution risked being put to a halt completely. Read More

Oct 09
7

Partner meeting in Cape Town

By | Partner meeting
The 6th face to face MEGA partner meeting, organised by the team from Stellenbosch University, took place between 25 and 27 September 2019. The meeting was held at the Protea Hotel by Marriott in the Cape Town suburb of Durbanville. Twenty-seven attendees, representing all nine of the partner universities took part. Read More

Oct 02
7

Meet the team – University of Pretoria

By | Meet the team

The University of Pretoria (UP) is a multi-faculty research-intensive university that has remained among the top South African universities in research output and impact. UP is also the top producer of graduates in the country. UP currently has more than 50 000 students and has become one of the leading higher education institutions on the continent. Its nine faculties and business school offer a diverse range of degrees, diplomas and certificates, over 1 000 of which are postgraduate programmes. Read More

Sep 25
7

Mobile application pilot in the Free State

By | Work update

South Africans are in dire straits as a vast part of the economy shut down and the country went into lockdown for months. As a result of job losses and businesses closing down, millions of people are going hungry every day. Worldwide, mental illness has been on the rise, and anecdotally, the pandemic is further compounding the situation. Read More

Dec 18
7

Training of trainers workshop in Cape Town

By | Partner meeting, Work update

On the 27th of September 2019, the highly anticipated MEGA “Training the Trainer” workshop was held in Cape Town. In the months leading up, we had worked hard to incorporate all the valuable feedback from primary health care workers and students from Zambia, South Africa and Germany who had taken part in the piloting phase. Read More

Nov 05
8

Meet the team – University of Cape Town

By | Meet the team

UCT aspires to be a world-class African institution, and in line with that vision our Department endeavours to be a leading Department of academic excellence that produces transformative and integrative teaching, research, healthcare and public service relevant to mental illness and well-being in local, African and global contexts. Read More

Oct 07
9

Meet the team – UNZA

By | Meet the team

The University of Zambia (UNZA) is a public Higher Education Institution located in Lusaka, Zambia. The University offers both undergraduate and postgraduate education in different fields in 13 different schools. Read More

Sep 25
8

Pilot training: University of the Free State

By | Work update

As the MEGA app is continuing development, the training materials for nurses on mental health and health care are ready for testing and implementation. The pilot test was carried out by the UFS team in actual settings. The training was conducted in a boardroom of the Heidedal Community Health Centre (CHC) at the Pelonomi Hospital in the Free State province. Despite the clinics being busy with their daily work, the training was prioritised, and one nurse and one social worker of the clinic were released for the pilot training for one full day. Read More

Sep 11
9

Meet the team – Stellenbosch University (SU)

By | Meet the team

Stellenbosch University (SU) is home to an academic community of 29 000 students as well as 3 000 permanent staff members on five campuses. The University is amongst South Africa’s leading tertiary institutions based on research output, student pass rates and rated scientists, and is recognised internationally as an academic institution of excellence. Read More

Sep 05
6

Piloting the train-the-trainer course

By | Work update

A main goal of the MEGA project is to integrate mental health into primary health care in South Africa and Zambia through the means of education. To reach this goal we are planning to train nurses in the use of a brief mental health screening tool for assessing mental health problems in young people. Read More

Apr 25
5

Partner meeting in Turku

By | Partner meeting

In an icy week in February, a dramatic and interesting meeting of the MEGA project took place in Turku, Finland. Events included: a pilot fainting, a broken shoulder, a twisted ankle, lost luggage, and project partners getting lost all over the city. Read More

Feb 14
6

Partner meeting in Riga

By | Partner meeting
The MEGA partner meeting in Riga marked the end of the 1st year of the project and many important decisions were made regarding further development of the mobile application as well as the training and data-collection phases of the project. It took place from the 14th to the 16th of November 2018 with partners from Finland, Germany, Zambia and South Africa visiting Riga Technical University (RTU) to continue working on the project that commenced in October 2017.

Read More

Nov 23
7

Meet the team – RTU

By | Meet the team

Riga Technical University (RTU) is the largest science-based university in the Baltic States. RTU trademark is high quality internationally competitive engineering education based on more than a century-and-a-half old academic tradition appropriate to meet new technological challenges. Read More

Nov 16
7

Free State Provincial Health Research Day

By | Dissemination, Work update

It is clear that there is need for more training on mental health issues for nurses in public health care according to the very preliminary findings from the MEGA project survey conducted in the Mangaung Municipality. This was our message in the 7th Annual Free State Provincial Health Research Day held on 9 November 2018, at the University of the Free State.  Read More

Nov 05
8

Meet the team – HAW

By | Meet the team

Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW) is one of the largest of its kind in Germany. Close ties with prospective employers and relevant industries guarantee a curriculum that reflects current developments in the field.  HAW offers 42 Bachelor’s degree courses, 32 Master’s degree courses, in fields such as Public Health, Social Work, Nursing and a number of Engineering related subjects. There are nearly 17,000 students, with around 2300 foreign students from over 100 nations.

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Aug 01
8

MEGA coordinator meeting with Zambian partners

By | Coordinator visit

Representatives of the MEGA project coordinator organization visited Lusaka, Zambia, in late May 2018. The purpose of the visit was to meet all team members from the University of Zambia (UNZA) and Lusaka Apex Medical University (LAMU), to plan the MEGA project partner meeting that took place in August 2018 and to conduct a clinical expert panel interview in Chilenje Level 1 hospital. Read More

Jul 20
8

The MEGA project group heard experts’ voices as the first research phase in promoting the mental health of adolescents

By | Work update

The MEGA project started the data collection for phase I in the study by using an expert panel as the study method. The panel was convened to validate the MEGA study instruments that will be used to map primary health care workers’ educational needs in South Africa and Zambia. The expert panel was organized in two phases at the University of Free State, Bloemfontein, SA and the University of Zambia, Lusaka in April–May 2018. Read More

May 31
9
MEGA project consortium

Partner meeting at UFS

By | Partner meeting

The objective of the 3-year MEGA project is to develop and introduce an assessment tool to be used on a smartphone to help treat mental health problems of children and adolescents. The application will be designed to be user-friendly so that primary health care centres in rural areas benefit from it as well. The project will train individuals in the use of the application in universities, who in turn will train healthcare staff in South Africa and Zambia. The project also involves research activities, namely: a doctoral dissertation and Master student thesis. Read More

May 23
7
MEGA project TUAS team

Meet the team – TUAS

By | Meet the team

In our MEGA project team, we have wide range of expertise from Europe, South Africa and Zambia. Turku University of Applied Science, the leading partner, has shown great expertise in running EU-funded projects and developing mental health education and services. Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS) is a multidisciplinary educational community of around 9000 students and 700 staff members. It is located in Southwest Finland but nowadays we operate globally in various development activities. It offers Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs in the faculty of Health and Well-being. Read More

May 11
6
MEGA project consortium

Kick-off meeting in Pretoria

By | Partner meeting

The MEGA project was born in Riga in the autumn of 2015 during the European Conference of Mental Health. Mari Lahti and Heikki Ellilä, Principal Lecturers at Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS) participated in the conference arrangements and met a colleague from South Africa, Ronelle Jansen. Together they started to consider different opportunities for future project collaboration. Ronelle’s words, “even the poorest of the poor have a smartphone in Africa” stayed in their mind. In fact, these were the words that created the project. Read More

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