Book – Mental Health African Understandings, Models and Interventions

Description

This book is suitable for lecturers and students doing certificate, diploma, bachelor, master and doctoral courses, as well as practitioners working with African communities in Africa and the diaspora. The highlights are:

• Brings together fourteen chapters by scholars and practitioners from across the African continent and its diaspora.
• Grounded in the overarching African philosophy of Ubuntu which is set as the conceptual foundation throughout, with a dedicated chapter on Ubuntu-grounded pedagogy for teaching African understandings of mental health.
• The inclusion of specialised frameworks, an annotated bibliography, and a mental health index is a key strength that provides comprehensive, interdisciplinary reference tools for readers.
• Covers assessment tools, models and frameworks developed specifically for African contexts, including locally developed interventions such as the Friendship Bench and African Computerized Adaptive Test (AFRICAT).
• Addresses mental health across the lifespan and across settings, including schools, prisons, communities and diaspora populations in Australia, with chapters set across eSwatini, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Nigeria and South Africa.
• Each chapter closes with case examples grounded in African family and communal structures.
• Written and peer reviewed by scholars and practitioners, with every chapter undergoing a decolonisation review.
• A fuller subject index is provided for locating key concepts, models and frameworks throughout the volume.

CONTENTS

Editors’ Preface — iii

Foreword — vi

Acknowledgements — viii

About the Editors — ix

Author Biographies — x

Chapter Tour — xv

Key Concepts in African Languages — xix

List of Frameworks and Models — xxv

---

SECTION I: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF AFRICAN AND BLACK MENTAL HEALTH

Chapter 1: Mugumbate, R. (2026). Mental health: African understandings. In W. Abur & R. Mugumbate (Eds.), Mental health: African understandings, models, and interventions (pp. 1–25). Zivo Publishing.

Chapter 2: Mugumbate, R. (2026). Tools for mental health assessment and diagnosis in Africa. In W. Abur & R. Mugumbate (Eds.), Mental health: African understandings, models, and interventions (pp. 26–44). Zivo Publishing.

Chapter 3: Abur, W. (2026). African versus Western mental health care models: A comparative analysis. In W. Abur & R. Mugumbate (Eds.), Mental health: African understandings, models, and interventions (pp. 45–76). Zivo Publishing.

---

SECTION II: FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ISSUES

Chapter 4: Omorogiuwa, T. B. E., & Ekhorutomwen, V. (2026). Mental health issues among children and social work measures in Nigeria. In W. Abur & R. Mugumbate (Eds.), Mental health: African understandings, models, and interventions (pp. 77–106). Zivo Publishing.

Chapter 5: Mwapaura, K., et al. (2026). The barriers to accessing mental health support services among individuals who have been incarcerated in Africa. In W. Abur & R. Mugumbate (Eds.), Mental health: African understandings, models, and interventions (pp. 107–132). Zivo Publishing.

Chapter 6: Mushunje, M. (2026). Indigenous knowledge systems for mental health care and support: The case for the Hurukuro Dialogues Initiative. In W. Abur & R. Mugumbate (Eds.), Mental health: African understandings, models, and interventions (pp. 133–160). Zivo Publishing.

Chapter 7: Nare, C., & Dube, M. (2026). Cultural resilience and mental health: Exploring support systems for Sotho widows in Zimbabwe. In W. Abur & R. Mugumbate (Eds.), Mental health: African understandings, models, and interventions (pp. 161–181). Zivo Publishing.

Chapter 8: Al Maamari, R., et al. (2026). Bridging existing knowledge, practices and innovation: The Friendship Bench model as a community-based mental health intervention in Africa. In W. Abur & R. Mugumbate (Eds.), Mental health: African understandings, models, and interventions (pp. 182–211). Zivo Publishing.

---

SECTION III: SOCIETAL ISSUES

Chapter 9: Dlamini, K., & Muzondo, E. (2026). The intersection of African indigenous medicine, mental health and entrepreneurship: Addressing fear of failure among aspiring entrepreneurs in eSwatini. In W. Abur & R. Mugumbate (Eds.), Mental health: African understandings, models, and interventions (pp. 212–235). Zivo Publishing.

Chapter 10: Dube, M. (2026). Masculinity and mental health: The experiences of Ndebele men in Zimbabwe. In W. Abur & R. Mugumbate (Eds.), Mental health: African understandings, models, and interventions (pp. 236–256). Zivo Publishing.

Chapter 11: Mapuru-Khati, M., & Hloele, T. J. M. (2026). Schools as frontline mental health and psychosocial support systems in Lesotho: A multi-layered approach. In W. Abur & R. Mugumbate (Eds.), Mental health: African understandings, models, and interventions (pp. 257–288). Zivo Publishing.

---

SECTION IV: ENVIRONMENTAL AND SPIRITUAL ISSUES

Chapter 12: Mbonjani, J., & Chitereka, C. (2026). Culturally grounded pathways for supporting mental wellbeing of elderly women in rural Africa in the context of climate change: Insights from Zimbabwe. In W. Abur & R. Mugumbate (Eds.), Mental health: African understandings, models, and interventions (pp. 289–314). Zivo Publishing.

Chapter 13: Mafuriranwa, R., & Abur, W. (2026). The role of clergy and social work in promoting mental health among African Australians. In W. Abur & R. Mugumbate (Eds.), Mental health: African understandings, models, and interventions (pp. 315–336). Zivo Publishing.

Chapter 14: Mugumbate, R. (2026). Pedagogical approaches emanating from Black understandings of mental health. In W. Abur & R. Mugumbate (Eds.), Mental health: African understandings, models, and interventions (pp. 337–364). Zivo Publishing.

---

Annotated Bibliography of Major Sources — 365

List of Mental Health Conditions and Issues — 383

Index — 395