1 - (SYM 30) So Many Treatments, so Little Access: The Unique Opportunity of Single-session Interventions to Meet Vast Global Mental Health Needs

Despite the global burden of mental illness linked with trauma exposure (Koenen et al., 2017), treatment gaps range from 80% in low-and middle-income countries to 49% in high-income countries (Stein et al., 2023). These treatment gaps are especially concerning when we consider the plethora of evidence-supported treatments (ESTs) that have been developed, investigated, tested, and replicated in scores of randomized controlled trials. 

Single-session interventions (SSIs) offer a partial solution in resolving this treatment gap. As SSIs are agnostic to treatment orientation and intentionally structured to maximize clinical benefit within one session, the structural adaptation of long-form ESTs into simpler formats such as SSIs is gaining popularity. This talk aims to bridge extant full-protocol ESTs into SSIs for improved dissemination to address global treatment gaps. 

This presentation will first explain the global treatment shortages along with barriers driving these care gaps. Next, we will present the unique opportunity of SSIs in resolving global treatment shortages with a focus on implementation strategies that have succeeded in global health settings. Specifically, barriers to deploying EST packages occur at cultural, clinical, and implementations levels. Culturally, ESTs developed in Western cultural contexts do not map onto culturally grounded care models. Clinically, we need to adapt existing long-form ESTs into shorter formats. In terms of implementation, we must recruit and train non-specialists in the competencies of delivering SSIs with fidelity, including appropriate future care linkage. Finally, we will end with a case study of adapting a long-form EST into an SSI and implementing the SSI in Goa, a semi-urban location in India.