BasicNeeds was founded in 1999 by Chris Underhill with the key objective of transforming the lives of people living with mental illness and epilepsy in the world’s poorest communities. BasicNeeds Vietnam received the permission of the Government of Vietnam to work in Vietnam in early 2011 as an international NGO.
With the aim to facilitate the release of stress, fatigue, and emotional pain as well as the adding of joy and positive energy to the mental health of Vietnamese people, BasicNeeds Viet Nam was founded in 2010 to establish a system that support community development and nurturing the Vietnamese people’s mental health.
BN has developed a Model for Mental Health and Development which employs a developmental approach to community-based mental health intervention with an emphasis on sustainability. BN recognizes that the only way to bring about and sustain positive change for poor people is to concurrently address related health, social, and economic concerns.