Approach · Mental health, Improving wellbeing
Problem-solving therapy
One-to-one talk therapy that helps people work through their problems, delivered by trained lay health workers.
How strong is the evidence?
Low to moderate
Strength of evidence, as rated by Happier Lives Institute
HLI rates quality of evidence low–moderate: meta-analysis plus four Friendship Bench randomized trials and monitoring data pre-post.
This is the Happier Lives Institute's own rating of the quality of the evidence.
What evaluators are unsure about
- Friendship Bench's randomized trials: some or high risk of bias in half of studies; moderate imprecision and inconsistency.
- Monitoring data synthetic control provides limited information; potential substantial bias.
- Future research could update evaluation.
Published figures for charities doing this
| Charity | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Friendship BenchWELLBYs per $1,000 | 48.52 WELLBYs per $1,000 donatedpublished table | Happier Lives Institute (opens in a new tab) |
| Friendship BenchCost per person treated | $16.50 per person treatedpublished table | Happier Lives Institute (opens in a new tab) |
| Friendship BenchCost per WELLBY | $20.61 per WELLBYpublished table | Happier Lives Institute (opens in a new tab) |
| Friendship BenchEffect per person | 0.8 WELLBYs per person treatedpublished table | Happier Lives Institute (opens in a new tab) |
| Friendship BenchCompared with cash transfers | 6.4× the wellbeing per dollar of cash transfers (GiveDirectly)published comparison | Happier Lives Institute (opens in a new tab) |
| Happier Lives FundAllocation to charities | 90% of donations go to recommended charitiespublished page | Happier Lives Institute (opens in a new tab) |
Modeled, not guaranteed. Figures in different units measure different kinds of good and should not be compared directly.
Charities doing this work
Friendship Bench
Offers one-to-one problem-solving therapy for people struggling with their mental health, delivered by trained lay health workers in Zimbabwe.
48.52 WELLBYs per $1,000 donated
Happier Lives Institute, published table
Happier Lives Fund
Pools donations for the Happier Lives Institute's recommended wellbeing charities, with a smaller share supporting the Institute's research.
90% of donations go to recommended charities
Happier Lives Institute, published page
Sources
Questions donors ask
- Does problem-solving therapy work?
Happier Lives Institute rates the evidence as low to moderate. See the sources on this page for the full reasoning.
- How cost-effective is it?
It depends on the charity and the setting. The table on this page lists each published figure with its source. All are modeled, not guaranteed.