Past project

SUCCEED Africa

Support, Comprehensive Care and EmpowErment for people with psychosocial Disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa

Project overview

SUCCEED Africa is a research consortium that aims to develop and evaluate an enhanced package of care for people with psychosocial disabilities in the region.

It supports four countries in sub-Saharan Africa to become regional leaders in research and policy on psychosocial disabilities, with a focus on psychosis.

The project starts with the premise that people with psychosocial disabilities, their families and communities, are the “experts by experience” who are best-positioned to define their needs and how to address them, with support from “experts by profession” such as researchers, practitioners and policymakers.

Project details

One of the most pressing issues in research on psychosocial disabilities is under-involvement of people with lived experience and their families in the Global South.

Studies in which people with lived experience and people with professional experience work together have played important roles in healthcare reform in high-income countries.

However, the evidence base for ‘what works’ to improve involvement in Lower Middle Income Countries is weak at best.

In order to perform more than just lip-service to the principle of “nothing about us without us”, more Low and Middle Income Countries evidence and experience must be generated on how to enable disempowered groups to have a genuine input into research.

McPin supported the voice of people with lived experience in the research, guiding its overall direction and considering specific issues that arise.

This included setting up and supporting a Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP), made up of representatives with lived experience nominated from the four countries involved in the study (Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Sierra Leone), as well as from international organisations representing people with psychosocial disabilities.

If you would like more information on the project, please visit the SUCCEED web page.

For more information about the project please email [email protected].

Work with us

We are always excited to hear from others who want to collaborate on mental health research. From delivering peer research to helping you with public involvement strategies and providing training, get in touch to chat.