Mental health response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya: a review.

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.