The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted considerable impact on public mental health globally. With the pandemic rapidly rising in sub-Saharan Africa including Kenya, there is need to provide evidence to guide the mental health response in the region. The objective of this review is (1) to describe the mental health response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya, guided by the Mental Health Preparedness and Action Framework (2) to offer context specific recommendations for improvement of the mental health response in Kenya. Such information could be useful in decision-making in Kenya as well as in the greater sub-Saharan Africa region. This narrative review is based on information obtained from official government documents released from 13th March 2020, the beginning of the pandemic in Kenya, up to 31st July 2020. The COVID-19 response in Kenya has no formal mental health response plan. There is an unmet need for psychological first aid in the community. While guidelines for the management of mental health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic have been prepared, implementation remains a major challenge due to a poorly resourced mental health system. There is no mental health surveillance system in place limiting ability to design evidence-based interventions. We propose four key strategies for strengthening the mental health response in order to mitigate the harmful impact of COVID-19 on public mental health in Kenya: (1) preparation of a formal mental health response plan specific to the COVID-19 pandemic with allocation of funding for the response (2) training of community health workers and community health volunteers on psychological first aid to enable access to support for those in need during the pandemic (3) scaling up of mobile health to increase access to care (4) conducting systematic and continuous text message surveys on the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to inform decision-making.

中文翻译：

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肯尼亚对 COVID-19 大流行的心理健康反应：综述。

COVID-19 大流行对全球公共心理健康产生了相当大的影响。随着包括肯尼亚在内的撒哈拉以南非洲地区疫情迅速蔓延，需要提供证据来指导该地区的心理健康应对措施。本次审查的目的是 (1) 在心理健康准备和行动框架的指导下，描述肯尼亚对 COVID-19 大流行的心理健康反应 (2) 为改善肯尼亚的心理健康反应提供具体背景建议. 此类信息可能有助于肯尼亚以及更大的撒哈拉以南非洲地区的决策。该叙述性审查基于从 2020 年 3 月 13 日肯尼亚大流行开始至 2020 年 7 月 31 日发布的官方政府文件中获得的信息。肯尼亚的 COVID-19 应对措施没有正式的心理健康应对计划。社区对心理急救的需求未得到满足。尽管已经制定了 COVID-19 大流行期间精神卫生状况管理指南，但由于精神卫生系统资源匮乏，实施仍然是一项重大挑战。没有适当的心理健康监测系统限制设计循证干预的能力。我们提出了四项关键战略来加强心理健康应对，以减轻 COVID-19 对肯尼亚公共心理健康的有害影响：