VIDA PLENA

STARTED: Incubation Program 2022

Co-founder, Executive Director
SEED GRANT: $132,000
WEBSITE: http://www.vidaplena.global

Anita Kaslin
Co-founder, Community Group Coordinator
Building Strong Mental Health in Latin America
CURRENT OR PREDICTED IMPACT:
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In terms of improving subjective well-being, we estimate Vida Plena to be at least 8x more cost-effective than GiveDirectly.
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Cost per DALY: $280.93
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Projected 454 DALYs in 2023 and 1,702 DALYs in 2024
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Cost per WELLBY: $0.08
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7.27 (95% CI: 1.37, 43.80) WELLBYs per person
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Projected 5338 WELLBYs will be produced in 2023
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It is our goal to effectively treat depression in over 1,600 people in 2023.
SIGNIFICANT UPDATES:
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Signed formal partnership with the Columbia University Global Mental Health Lab in NYC in which they commit to:
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a) Train IPT Supervisors and the first cohort of group facilitators
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b) Give overall program supervision and support
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c) Design, conduct and publish an impact study
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Established the legal advisory boards for Ecuador and the United States
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Signed agreements with 11 local implementation partners in Ecuador
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Established contact with local Ecuadorian universities, Indoamérica, and the PUCE as research partners
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Fundraised $63,000 from EA donors towards the pilot program happening fall 2022
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4 team members were certified by Columbia University as Interpersonal Therapy clinical supervisors
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Carried interviews and selected 11 people to be trained as support group facilitators
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Hired an Ecuadorian clinical psychologist to provide mentorship to group facilitators
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Conducted baseline impact evaluation data and developed plan to conduct and RCT with Columbia University in 2023
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Established connections with Strong Minds, a similar mental health organization based in Uganda to share knowledge and experiences.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
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Community training: 11 local community members completed 55 hours of training to become support group facilitators certified by Columbia University.
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Pilot Launch: Vida Plena is currently carrying out a pilot program to test the implementation of the program model in Latin America.
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Inauguration of first 11 support groups: Groups are composed of an average of 6 people and meet in local neighborhood locations for 9 weeks.
IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS:
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Predictive CEA, conducted by volunteers from the Happier Lives Institute