Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Friendship Bench: How Fourteen Grandmothers Inspired a Mental Health Revolution

The Friendship Bench: How Fourteen Grandmothers Inspired a Mental Health Revolution

Chibanda, Dixon

Paperback

Biographies GeneralMedical ReferenceGeneral Psychology

Publisher Price: $18.95

ISBN10: 1955831025
ISBN13: 9781955831024
Publisher: New World Library
Published: Apr 22 2025
Pages: 208
Weight: 0.44
Height: 0.70 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.10
Language: English
Dixon Chibanda's beautiful and heroic book will inspire everyone who reads it.
-- Johann Hari

2025 BookPal OWL Award Winner - As featured on CBS Sunday Morning and NPR's Here and Now

A simple, human solution for loneliness and depression

When Dr. Dixon Chibanda lost a patient to suicide, he began a soul-searching journey that eventually led to a mental healthcare revolution. As one of only six psychiatrists in all of Zimbabwe, a country traumatized by decades of conflict, Chibanda quickly realized that millions there were suffering from mental illness with no hope of receiving care. He saw that the only way to narrow this care gap was to leverage existing resources in the community, and one such resource was the compassion and understanding of grandmothers. With fourteen of these wise elders as partners, Chibanda pioneered the Friendship Bench program, a community-driven initiative addressing loneliness, depression, substance abuse, and suicide by fostering intergenerational connectedness. Since then, more than 500,000 people worldwide have sat on a park bench to share their personal stories with an empathetic grandmother.

A primer on how human connection forms the bedrock of our resilience, The Friendship Bench gives readers the tools to facilitate transformative healing by reaching out to those who are struggling and isolated from the world around them. It's a case study of how interventions supported by robust scientific evidence can be made accessible for all. Ultimately, it's a celebration of the collective wisdom and knowledge of those rooted in their communities and their profound ability to foster belonging, purpose, and healing.


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