Transforming Mental Health Across Latin America
Evidence-based care delivered by communities and local government partners
Transforming Mental Health Across Latin America
Evidence-based care delivered by communities and local government partners
The Gap in Mental Health Care
In Ecuador, nearly three out of four people struggling with mental health receive no formal support.
Left untreated, these challenges impact health, livelihoods, and families. Clinic-based care alone isn’t enough.
Vida Plena works differently: scaling evidence-based group therapy through communities and public partnerships.
Current locations: Quito, Imbabura
Planned Expansions: Amazon / coastal regions
Mental Health that Scales
We scale mental health care through three approaches: direct service (training facilitators), implementation partnerships (equipping governments), and learning & innovation (research / refinement). Here’s how these work in practice:
Community & Partner Training
Community Outreach & Partner Implementation
Community-led Support Groups & Ongoing Technical Support
Depression Reduced While Building Sustainable Mental Health Systems
We train local communities and partner with governments to deliver evidence-based care.
Mental Health that Scales
We scale mental health care through three approaches: direct service (training facilitators), implementation partnerships (equipping governments), and learning & innovation (research / refinement). Here’s how these work in practice:
Community & Partner Training
Community Outreach & Partner Implementation
Community-led Support Groups & Ongoing Technical Support
Depression Reduced While Building Sustainable Mental Health Systems
We train local communities and partner with governments to deliver evidence-based care.
Proven Results Across Ecuador
Evidence-based care delivered by communities creates lasting change
people treated in our first 3 years
%
with clinical depression clinically improved or recovered
%
sustain improvement 6 months later
Voices from our communities
Research & Academic Partners
Delivering WHO’s, top-recommended g-IPT methodology and partnering with Columbia University Global Mental Health Lab
Implementation Partners
Working with government teams across Ecuador to deliver community-based interventions
Real Stories
From the Field
Team retreat: reflections and planning tastes better with marshmallow s’mores
Liked a worried mother hen, I counted heads as the team climbed into the public bus, off to our retreat in the Andean countryside – the smoking Cotopaxi Volcano warnings be damned. Two days of togetherness to collect our reflections from the pilot last fall, and...
How much good can happen for $17?
When I created Vida Plena, it was clear that one of our key principles needed to be the thoughtful use of the resources entrusted to us. I’ve been part of too many organizations in the past that – while based on good intentions – really had no way of knowing how...
Thank you for being our community
Can’t believe we’ve just closed out the year….And what year it’s been. I occasionally keep a journal, and last year’s January 1 entry read, “Ok, I think this is the year to really make this happen.” But in that moment there still wasn’t anything yet – a single...
Team retreat: reflections and planning tastes better with marshmallow s’mores
Liked a worried mother hen, I counted heads as the team climbed into the public bus, off to our retreat in the Andean countryside – the smoking Cotopaxi Volcano warnings be damned. Two days of togetherness to collect our reflections from the pilot last fall, and...
How much good can happen for $17?
When I created Vida Plena, it was clear that one of our key principles needed to be the thoughtful use of the resources entrusted to us. I’ve been part of too many organizations in the past that – while based on good intentions – really had no way of knowing how...
Our Work in Action
