Speaker
Description
*A National Virtual Child and Adolescent Mental Health Supervision for Kenya: Strengthening Workforce Capacity*
Authors: Sarah Wawa, Prisicilla Makau, Kingi Mochache, Mary Njuguna, Irene Machua, Jane Muia, Simon Njuguna
Background: Kenya, like many low- and middle-income countries, faces a substantial child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) treatment gap driven by a shortage of specialist personnel, limited training opportunities, uneven service distribution, and constrained access to multidisciplinary consultation. Frontline clinicians frequently manage complex neurodevelopmental, behavioural, emotional, and risk-related presentations with limited access to specialist supervision. Scalable capacity-building approaches are needed to strengthen service quality while expanding access to evidence-informed care.
Objective: To describe the development of a national virtual CAMH supervision model designed to enhance clinician competence, improve case management, promote multidisciplinary learning, and strengthen referral pathways across Kenya.
Methods: A structured supervision model was developed through collaboration between academic institutions, professional associations, specialist clinicians, and public sector stakeholders. The model uses scheduled online case-based supervision sessions led by child and adolescent psychiatrists and other relevant specialists. Participating clinicians submit anonymised challenging cases in advance, supported by documented patient/caregiver consent and governance procedures addressing confidentiality, professional registration, and ethical case discussion. Sessions incorporate case formulation, diagnostic clarification, risk review, treatment planning, psychosocial interventions, systems engagement, and reflective practice. Proposed participants include psychiatrists, psychiatry trainees, psychologists, medical officers, paediatricians, nurses, counsellors, occupational therapists, and other mental health practitioners involved in CAMH care.
Results: The proposed model is expected to improve clinician confidence, knowledge, and decision-making in managing common and complex CAMH presentations including autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, trauma-related conditions, self-harm, and family/systemic difficulties. Additional anticipated benefits include reduced professional isolation, stronger interprofessional networks, improved referral coordination, and greater standardisation of care across counties and sectors. Routine monitoring indicators include attendance, participant satisfaction, self-rated competence, case resolution outcomes, and service linkage metrics.
Conclusion: Virtual case-based supervision represents a feasible, low-cost, and scalable strategy to strengthen CAMH workforce capacity in Kenya. By leveraging scarce specialist expertise across multiple sites, the model may support decentralisation of CAMH knowledge, improve quality of care, and provide a replicable framework for other countries in sub-Saharan Africa seeking to narrow the child mental health treatment gap.