APHRC-DSE/INSPIRE-Mental-Health-Project-Integrating-and-Harmonizing-Longitudinal-Data

This repository contains project resources for building a data science platform for integration and harmonization of longitudinal data on mental health in Africa # INSPIRE-Mental-Health-Project-Integrating-and-Harmonizing-Longitudinal-Data This repository contains project resources for building a data science platform for integration and harmonization of longitudinal data on mental health in Africa. ## Summary The **INSPIRE: Building a Data Science Platform for Integration and Harmonization of Longitudinal Data on Mental Health in East Africa project** is designed to improve mental health outcomes for depression, anxiety and psychosis in East African settings, specifically in Kenya. To do this, the project aims to provide mental health datasets from African researches to help ensure data-driven decision making on mental health conditions. Historically, public health policymakers in Africa have focused on communicable diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. However, non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and mental health conditions are increasingly becoming the main cause of mortality in Africa. There is a continuous need for essential data on mental health prevalence and services in East Africa to assist in improving the appropriateness and accuracy of mental health screenings and to develop a more nuanced and culturally appropriate mental health database. Data on the causes, consequences, and impacts of mental health conditions in the African population, therefore, needs to be collected and harmonized. This data needs to capture and account for physical exposures, socio-economic forces, health opportunities , and lifestyles, often referred to as the external exposome, which impact mental health. This necessitates data from longitudinal research, which could also show the effectiveness of interventions to improve mental health in the Kenyan Region of East Africa. ## Primary deliverables - **D1:** Discover new and existing data from population and clinical data sources on: longitudinal African mental health (mental health) conditions; mental health signs, symptoms and biomarke …