1 in 2 Kenyans suffer from mental health issues. These issues are exacerbated by emerging stressors such as conflict, climate change, and economic instability. On Thursday, November 14th, and Friday, November 15th at the Safari Park Hotel & Casino, Shamiri Institute hosted the annual Shamiri Summit bringing together thought leaders from the fields of science, policy, and implementer to discuss the pressing challenges for youth in Kenya and share cross-collaborative solutions on a path forward.
On Thursday, Shamiri Institute previewed its annual youth mental health survey. This year they interviewed over 1,300 Kenyan youth aged 12 – 24 across eight counties with key findings including:
• 37% of adolescents report moderate to severe anxiety and depression with 61% indicating moderate to severe PTSD symptoms and 41% experiencing low wellbeing.
• Urban counties, particularly Nairobi and Kiambu, report higher rates of depression and anxiety.
• Males tend to report more anxiety and depression compared to females.
• Older students, particularly in Form Four, and students from large towns, report higher mental health issues.
• Adolescents in single-parent homes or larger towns report elevated PTSD levels, pointing to the impact of family and community settings on mental health.
These findings underscore the pressing need for fostering resilient individuals and communities to enable youth to thrive. In the last year alone, the Shamiri Institute served over 100,000 youth with the Shamiri intervention through a three-tiered caregiving model researched, developed, and tested by the organization for its efficacy.
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The Shamiri intervention is a brief, low-stigma, scalable solution that teaches gratitude, growth mindset, and value alignment to students in local high schools with an over 80% success rate in addressing rates of both anxiety and depression. Since 2018, Shamiri Institute has served over 130,000 youth making it the largest youth mental health provider in Africa.
Tom Osborn, CEO and Founder of Shamiri Institute said, “At Shamiri Institute, we are innovating traditional mental health caregiving models through rigorous research to be contextualized and effective to meet our needs. We recognize the need for collaboration across industries and every year at the Shamiri Summit, we bring together top minds in mental health and advocacy to discuss what is working and how we can scale our solutions most effectively.”
To accelerate the impact of the Shamiri model, the Shamiri Institute is developing shamiriOS: a custom-built digital platform that provides real-time data visualization, efficient tracking, and an ability for live program monitoring and evaluation. This powerful tool provides enhanced program fidelity and adherence, and seamless sharing of insights with partners enabling rapid scaling and reach.
The youth mental health crisis demands immediate and sustained action. With the right tools, we can help Kenya’s youth to overcome these challenges and build resilient futures.
It is critical to continue investing in scalable, evidence-based mental health programs like Shamiri’s and working together across sectors to ensure every young person has the opportunity to thrive.
