The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Syndemic-Adapted Medly Uganda (SAMU) in improving mental health care among adults living with HIV and hypertension in Uganda. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), there is a high prevalence of depression and anxiety among people living with HIV (PLHIV) as well as alcohol use disorder (AUD). PLHIV who experience depression are less likely to link to HIV care, adhere to antiretroviral therapy, and achieve viral suppression. Building on research conducted to adapt Medly Uganda for mental health using a syndemic framework, this study aims to assess the effectiveness of SAMU on mental health screening and diagnosis. This will be accomplished through a two-arm trial in which 1. participants will be enrolled, screened, re-screened, and assessed for diagnosis and linkage to care for depression, anxiety and AUD and 2. evaluate the factors impacting sustained engagement in the SAMU program, through mixed methods.

All staff will be trained in mental health screening prior to the trial launch, and all clinics will be equipped with health education materials to raise awareness of mental health, self-care and available resources in the clinic and community

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient at a participating HIV clinic site
• Currently living in Uganda with no intention of moving abroad in next 2 years
• Access to a mobile phone
• Basic reading skills in one or more of the offered languages (English, Luganda) as determined by the Research Assistant.

Exclusion Criteria:

• No access to a mobile phone
• Inability to provide informed consent based on assessment by the onsite Research Assistant or HCW

Healthcare Workers/Caregivers Criteria:

• Age >=18 years
• Healthcare worker at participating site or caregiver for study participant at site
• Basic reading skills in one or more of the offered languages (English, Luganda) as determined by the Research Assistant

Partial, individualized data sets will be made available based on specific requests. All data to be shared will be fully deidentified, will undergo rigorous cleaning and quality control prior to sharing, will be accompanied by a data dictionary to prevent misunderstanding or misuse, and will be encoded using common standards. Audio recordings will not be shared, however final transcripts will be shared. The project website will include all necessary information concerning data sharing, including direct links to the data repository.

Data will be shared beyond the study team once approved by the PIs and a data sharing team, members to be determined. The project website will include all necessary information concerning data sharing, including direct links to the data repository.

Data will be accessible to any researcher or non-researcher who submits a data access request form as described above. Once data are cleared for sharing by the data sharing team, they will be moved to a federally sanctioned repository. All repository rules for requesting data sets will need to be followed by requesting individuals.