Effectiveness of a Multisectoral Community-Based Intervention for Psychosis in West and Southeast Africa: Protocol of the SUCCEED Africa Randomised Controlled Trial

Why It Matters

Demonstrating a scalable, evidence‑based model for improving mental‑health outcomes in low‑resource settings could reshape policy and attract funding for community‑driven care across Africa.

Key Takeaways

• SUCCEED Africa trials run in Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
• Intervention combines peer support, case management, livelihood activities.
• Primary outcome measured by WHOQOL‑BREF after 12 months.
• Enhanced usual care serves as control group.
• Findings will guide policy on community‑based mental health services.

Pulse Analysis

Mental health services in low‑ and middle‑income countries have traditionally relied on hospital‑centric models, leaving large gaps in care for people with psychosis. Community‑Based Rehabilitation (CBR), championed by the World Health Organization, offers a flexible framework that integrates health, social, and economic support. By adapting the CBR matrix to local contexts, SUCCEED Africa seeks to address not only clinical symptoms but also the broader determinants of wellbeing, such as stigma, employment, and community participation, which are often overlooked in conventional treatment pathways.

The SUCCEED trials employ a rigorous, individually randomized design that isolates the impact of three synergistic components: trained peer‑support workers delivering group and one‑on‑one sessions, community support workers providing case management to activate local resources, and livelihood initiatives that follow an Asset‑Based Community Development approach. Quality of life, captured through the WHOQOL‑BREF instrument, serves as the primary endpoint, while a locally adapted Social Inclusion Scale gauges secondary outcomes. By collecting data at baseline, midline, and endline, the study ensures a granular view of trajectory changes, and linear regression models will adjust for referral source and baseline imbalances, enhancing the credibility of causal inferences.

If the intervention demonstrates statistically and clinically meaningful improvements, it could become a blueprint for scaling community‑driven mental‑health programs across sub‑Saharan Africa. Policymakers would have robust evidence to allocate resources toward integrated services that blend psychosocial support with economic empowerment. Moreover, donors and NGOs could leverage the trial’s findings to justify investments in multisectoral models that promise higher return on social impact, while academic circles gain a valuable case study on implementing rigorous RCTs in complex, real‑world environments.