Stella Waruingi

Stella Waruingi, is the Head of Mental Health & Substance Use Program at Nairobi County, Directorate of Health. This role has led to the establishment of mental health services and structures within the county, integration of mental health at primary healthcare through implementation of WHO mhGAP-IG and strengthening of community mental health.

She has over 10 years of experience as a psychotherapist and in public healthmanagement. Currently she is leading the improvement of public mentalhealth through collaborative efforts of government, NGO’s, and private sector. This is accomplished through designing promotive strategies to improve the mental wellness of the population and preventive interventions to address the mental health gap. One of the major achievements has been designing affordable and accessible mental health services by integration at the primary healthcare.

Stella has a Master of Health Psychology from the University of Nairobi and is currently pursuing a Master of Philosophy in Public Mental Health at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Stella is most interested in in implementation research and designing public mental health promotive and preventative interventions with a focus on maternal mental health. In her free time, she mentors adolescents and young persons on reproductive and mental health and also volunteers at Kenya Red Cross Society.