We’re proud to share that Restore Hope’s work has been published in the American Journal of Public Health, one of the most widely read journals in the field.
The article, “Reframing Bereavement as a Public Health Exposure: Field Notes From a Community-Based Mental Health Program in Postconflict Liberia,” was published online on October 8, 2026. The authors are Saundra Williams, Roseline Yah Trokpao Chesson, Robert Rufsvold and Bryan Cheng.
Grief is usually treated as a private, individual experience. In Liberia, years of civil war and the Ebola epidemic have made loss so widespread that it affects entire communities. The article argues that bereavement should be understood as a public health exposure and addressed with community-based care, not only one-on-one clinical treatment.
Drawing on RHL’s group Interpersonal Psychotherapy program, the article reports that program outcomes from 2022 to 2025 show significant reductions in depression alongside improvements in social connection. Healing in a group, alongside neighbors who carry similar losses, rebuilds the social bonds that grief and conflict wear down.
Publication in AJPH places Restore Hope: Liberia’s model in front of public health researchers, policymakers and funders, and adds peer-reviewed evidence to what our facilitators and clients have seen for years.
