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.
The three-day project meeting was organized at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa. TUAS, our European partners from Riga and Hamburg, and three project partners from South Africa and one from Zambia were present at the meeting. During the meeting, updates on the project status were shared, future activities planned and the division of work agreed on. In addition, an expert panel was conducted to validate the questionnaire for mapping mental health services. TUAS and RTU had a chance to become acquainted with a health centre in the suburbs. Nurses carry out excellent work with great professionalism while receiving around 200 patients a day, most of them children. According to the nurses, mental health issues are often completely ignored due to the sensitivity of the issues and lack of time.
Our Bloemfontein colleagues provided a great framework for the meeting. The university campus was functional and quite modern. Our journey went without any difficulties and we were delighted to notice that our project is moving forward, and the project partners are committed to accomplish a common goal.
