This country has only 10 psychiatrists. That's where 'professional grandmothers' come in.


In Zimbabwe, a country of 15 million people, there are only around 10 psychiatrists. The Friendship Bench Project trained local older women in problem-solving therapy to be community health care workers. By increasing access to this service of listening and personal advising, the “grandmothers” are defusing the depression in individuals who visit with them on a Friendship Bench.

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