Providers' Experiences in Implementation of Friendship Bench: A Problem-Solving Therapy-Based Mental Health...

People who inject drugs (PWID) living with HIV in Vietnam experience a high prevalence of common mental disorders (CMDs), which negatively impact their health, treatment adherence and overall quality of life. To address the mental health care needs of this vulnerable population, we adapted and piloted Friendship Bench, a problem-solving therapy-based mental health intervention, for people on methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) who live with HIV and have CMDs in 6 MMT clinics in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2021-2023. This paper aims to explore the experience of implementing aFB and the possibility of aFB expansion from the perspectives of the intervention providers who were directly involved in the delivery of the aFB program. We conducted formal in-person interviews with aFB providers including doctors (n = 6), counselors (n = 10) and supervisors (n = 2)following aFB intervention completion. Collected data was coded using NVivo 12.0 and thematic analysis was applied. All respondents were satisfied with and praised the aFB. Most providers reported that the aFB was beneficial to both overall and mental health of the MMT patients with HIV. All counselors shared that problem-solving therapy in the aFB was new for them; nevertheless, their counseling skills improved significantly after delivering the aFB sessions. All respondents were optimistic about the expansion of the aFB in other clinics. Application of aFB as a mental health intervention for care and treatment for MMT and ART patients could be a promising approach for Vietnam to address mental health care needs for this vulnerable population. Clinical Trial Number: NCT04790201 registered 3/10/2021.