Project Grant R01MH136958

The National Institute of Mental Health awarded the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill $1,454,676 on August 7, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to conduct a randomized controlled trial of problem-solving therapy (PST) to improve common mental disorder and HIV care outcomes for people with HIV on antiretroviral therapy in Vietnam.

The study tests a task-shifted, non-specialist-delivered mental health intervention designed to address the gap between the high prevalence of untreated common mental disorders among people with HIV and the severe shortage of mental health workforce capacity in low- and middle-income countries. The research deliberately situates the trial in Vietnam to create a high-contrast environment where intervention mechanisms and causal pathways linking mental health improvements to HIV outcomes are most observable, with findings intended to inform implementation in resource-constrained U.S. settings including rural and safety-net clinics.

Work is performed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The period of performance runs through July 31, 2031. UNC-Chapel Hill, operating through its Office of Sponsored Research, is the recipient institution.