Grant: Project Grant

Bipolar disorder affects 48 million people worldwide. While medication is essential for the successful treatment of bipolar disorder, additional psychosocial interventions are useful for acute depressive episodes, as well as for maintenance treatment, prevention of recurrence and to restore quality of life and functioning to the individual and their family. However, there is limited research on psychosocial interventions for bipolar disorder, especially from low resource settings like low and middle-income income countries. This application proposes to provide a culturally sensitive framework for treatment by developing an evidence-based intervention adapted to meet the sociocultural needs of individuals with bipolar disorder in Pakistan. If found effective, this intervention could potentially improve clinical outcomes, social and occupational functioning, and quality of life in this patient group and address significant mental health treatment gaps in low and high-income countries. The outcome of this trial will have implications for health services research in Pakistan and elsewhere. It will not only help improve the organization of care for patients presenting with bipolar disorder, but also improving the quality of health services research, including health economics research. The impact of this project will extend to other low-resource settings, both in low income and high-income countries, including Canada.