Lay Counselors’ Mental Wellness in Suicide Prevention after Prolonged Mass Trauma: A Pre- and Post-Training Appraisal

Abstract

Information on the mental wellness of lay counselors in Uganda is unavailable. Sixty representatives of three sub counties in Gulu District in Northern Uganda were equipped with counseling skills through 40 hours of training over 5 days. The trainees completed the 32-item Response Inventory for Stressful Life Events (RISLE) immediately before the commencement of the training and soon after the completion of the training. Pretest prevalence of suicide ideation was 9.3%, and posttest prevalence was 11.1%. Immediate post-training assessment showed better overall mental wellbeing as judged by overall RISLE scores, which were statistically significantly lower post-training than pre-training for gender (P = 0.05) and marital status (P = 0.001) on most RISLE scores. Qualitative assessment after 3 months of training showed that trainees were less suicidal, and they had improved psychosocial functioning. The current results point to the need to pay attention to the mental wellness of volunteer counselors and support them in their role in preventing suicide in areas of mass trauma. We recommend robust randomized community trials to determine the role of the mental wellbeing of volunteer lay counselors in the provision of psychological first aid to communities exposed to prolonged mass trauma.