Scaling up Problem Management Plus to Young Adults experiencing marginalization in Lebanon and Palestine – a initiative by and for young adults

Our proposal focuses on young adults-YA (18-30 years old) with symptoms of anxiety or depression, living in contexts of war, uncertainty, displacement in Lebanon and Palestine. YA exhibit higher rates of mental health distress than younger peers but are rarely the focus of interventions. Contexts of war/uncertainty/displacement increase distress. Yet, there are not enough licensed mental health providers to meet needs. We want to implement Problem Management Plus (PM+), an early-intervention community-based psychological intervention. PM+ works to decrease anxiety and depression by using strategies like problem-solving, stress management, taking action, and strengthening social support. A unique aspect of our application: YA without current distress will be trained to give PM+ to their peers. Our implementation partners include government mental health programs, a UN agency, NGOs that provide mental health programs, and Justice for Mental Health, a lived/living experience NGO in Lebanon. We will use the Foundation phase to include a Palestinian lived experience organization. This range of implementation partners will help us understand what works best to scale-up PM+. Plans for meaningful involvement of persons with lived experience will be developed by lived experience NGOs. The Foundation phase builds trusting relationships amongst the whole team and co-designs the impact phase.