Integrated Treatment for Depression and Poverty in Low-Income Rural Women in Bangladesh

What this Trial Is About

This trial focuses on low income rural Bangladeshi women with depression, studying whether combining poverty alleviation with depression treatment leads to better outcomes compared to depression treatment alone. The main questions include improvements in depression symptoms at six months, relapse rates at 18 months, and treatment uptake and retention. Additional outcomes studied include economic vulnerability, anxiety, culturally specific symptoms, quality of life, and functioning, with a mixed methods implementation evaluation involving interviews with participants and staff. Participants are assigned to one of two groups. The control group receives six sessions of a manualized group psychotherapy based on the WHO Problem Management Plus program, including problem solving, social support, behavioral activation, and relaxation techniques, along with four support group meetings. The experimental group receives the same psychotherapy plus a poverty alleviation program consisting of financial education sessions, savings accounts, consumption support for six months, a productive asset transfer of goats, animal feed and veterinary care for a year, gardening supplies, and agricultural skill building. Participants will take part in research interviews at 6, 12, and 18 months to assess depressive symptoms, relapse, economic status, anxiety, function, quality of life, and tension. The study monitors treatment adoption, retention, and fidelity through quantitative and qualitative methods. The total participation spans up to 18 months, allowing evaluation of both clinical and implementation outcomes.

ASHA Bangladesh--An Integrated Intervention to Address Poverty and Depression