Michael Udedi

Michael Udedi is a clinician, public mental health specialist and health care manager. He holds administrative and leadership role at Non Communicable Diseases and Mental Health Unit (NCDs & MH) under the Clinical Services Directorate as a focal point for Mental Health.

Before joining the NCDs & MH Unit he worked for Zomba Mental Hospital and Machinga District Hospital respectively as a clinician. He has particular interest in the intervention models on integration of mental health and chronic conditions including physical non communicable diseases.

He has participated in a number of research projects both at design and implementation level in the areas of mental health and physical non communicable diseases.

He is currently the principal and co-principal investigator in the pilot projects on integration of mental health in NCD care and HIV care respectively. He also has experience in policy formulation for mental health services.

He has a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Medicine majoring in Mental Health from St John of God College of Health Sciences-Mzuzu University and a Master's degree in Public Mental Health from Stellenbosch University.

He also holds several management qualifications including a Bachelor of Arts in Human Resources Management from Chancellor College-University of Malawi, a Postgraduate Diploma in Hospital Management and a Master of Business Administration in Health Care Management both from Neu Ulm University of Applied Sciences. He is currently a PhD fellow for the African Mental Health Research Initiative (AMARI).

He is interested in improving access to mental health care as well as improving quality of mental health care in Malawi.

His contributions to mental health field include;

1.Integration of mental health in primary care and community care in Malawi

His work has mainly been on improving access to mental health services through integration of services in primary care and community care setting. This has involved increasing capacity of healthcare workers. Some of the publications regarding this work include;

a. Kauye F, Chiwandira C, Wright J, Commons S, Phiri M, Mafuta C, Maliwichi L, Udedi M (2011), Increasing the capacity of Health Surveillance Assistants in Community Mental Health Care in a Developing Country, Malawi; genesis of pilot program and interim results. Malawi Medical Journal (2011) 23; 3: 85-88
b. Udedi M. (2016) Improving Access to Mental Health Services in Malawi. Ministry of Health, July 2016. https://www.afidep.org/?page_id=4478
c. Michael Udedi; Melissa A. Stockton, Kazione Kulisewaa, Mina C. Hosseinipour, Bradley N. Gaynes, Steven M. Mphonda, Brian W. Pence (2019).The effectiveness of depression management for improving HIV care outcomes in Malawi: protocol for a quasi-experimental study. BMC Public Health; https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7132-3

2.Utilization of health services by patients with mental health problems in Malawi

In addition to the work in integration, he is also involved in mental health research with the focus of understanding the utilization and access of health services by people with mental health problems. This is crucial in developing strategies and action plans for improving access. Some of the publications regarding this research include;

a. Udedi, M., Swartz, L., Stewart, R.C., Kauye, F. (2013), Health service utilization by patients with common mental disorder identified by the Self-Reporting Questionnaire in a primary care setting in Zomba, Malawi: A descriptive study. International Journal of Social Psychiatry published online 22 July 2013, DOI: 10.1177/0020764013495527
b. Udedi, M. (2014), The Prevalence of Depression among patients and its detection by Primary Health Care Workers at Matawale Health Centre (Zomba). Malawi Medical Journal; 26 (2) 34-37
c. Kauye, F., Udedi, M., Mafuta, C., (2014), Pathway to care for psychiatric patients in a developing country: Malawi. International Journal of Social Psychiatry published online 4 June 2014, DOI:10.1177/0020764014537235
d. Udedi, M. (2015), Mental health disorders in primary healthcare clinics in Malawi, Mental Health Practice. 19, 4, 25-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.7748/mhp.19.4.25.s19

3. Mental health, depression management and the youth in Malawi

While adult mental health has been a focus by most healthcare workers in Malawi, adolescent mental health has been overlooked. He has worked in the youth mental health care program with a focus on Depression management model for implementation in primary care setting through the Grand Challenges Canada funding. Some of the publications for this work include;

a. Kutcher S, Gilberds H, Morgan C, Udedi M, Perkins K (2015), Malawi Educators’ Assessment of Student Mental Health Outcomes. Int J Sch Cog Psychol S2: 009. doi:10.4172/ijscp.S2-009
b. Kutcher S, Udedi M, Gilberds H, Brown A, Heisler C, Chapota R, Perkins K, Clinic outcomes of the Pathway to Care Model: A cross-sectional survey of adolescent depression in Malawi ". Malawi Medical Journal 29 (2): June 2017
c. Stanley Kutcher, Kevin Perkins, Heather Gilberds, Michael Udedi, Omary Ubuguyu , Tasiana Njau, Rex Chapota and Mina Hashish (2019). Creating Evidence-Based Youth Mental Health Policy in Sub- Saharan Africa: A Description of the Integrated Approach to Addressing the Issue of Youth Depression in Malawi and Tanzania. Frontiers in Psychiatry doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00542