Depression is one of the most common mental health conditions experienced by people living with HIV, yet access to effective mental health care remains limited in many healthcare settings. Depression can affect quality of life, engagement in care, and adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART), making it an important component of holistic HIV treatment.

Project iNpower aims to address this challenge by exploring how effective, scalable, and sustainable mental health care can be integrated into routine HIV services in South Africa. The project is a collaboration between the Centre for Behavioural Medicine, the City of Cape Town, the University of Miami, and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Working across ten HIV clinics in Cape Town, Project iNpower focuses on improving access to evidence-based depression treatment for people living with HIV. The project seeks to understand how best to implement mental health screening, referral pathways, and treatment within existing healthcare systems, ensuring that patients can access the support they need as part of routine HIV care.

A key component of the project is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Adherence and Depression (CBT-AD), an evidence-based intervention that addresses both depression and HIV treatment adherence. CBT-AD combines practical cognitive behavioural therapy techniques with adherence counselling, helping individuals develop skills to manage depressive symptoms while supporting engagement with HIV treatment.

The project is currently in the process of implementation. Over the past few months, the team has been working closely with participating clinics to prepare for the integration of mental health services into routine care. This has included a series of pre-implementation workshops with clinic managers and staff to better understand each clinic's unique context, and identify potential barriers and facilitators to implementation. Alongside these workshops, nurses from participating clinics have been receiving training in CBT-AD. 

As the project progresses, we look forward to sharing updates on implementation activities, lessons learned, and the impact of integrating mental health care into HIV services.