Community mental health in rural India: the Shifa project in Padhar Hospital, Madhya Pradesh

Ebenezer, Johann Alex; Drake, Robert E.

doi:10.1192/bji.2017.8

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…If, in fact, a sizable population is going to religious preachers and elders, a policy initiative might be considered to sway their choice to instead go to primary health care physicians or even to provide community elders and religious preachers with proper training. Direct community outreach projects run by government or non-government organizations have shown promise in parts of India 11 indicating a strong need for the systematic evaluation of cost and success of such approaches and their possible integration with other programs. Community mental health programs are promoted all over the world, and there have been some interesting case studies from India.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acceptability of Mental Health Facilities and De-addiction Centers in India

Singh¹,

Goel²,

Mondal³

et al. 2019

J Exp Neurosci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Not much is known about disease prevalence, treatment outcomes, trained manpower, programs, and patients’ awareness of diseases from South Asia, compared with the Western world. While other aspects are improving, the quantitative evaluation of awareness of diseases is lagging. Compared with other diseases, the situation for mental health disorders and addiction is worse. While no single study can fully quantify all aspects of awareness, a good starting point is to understand if increasing the number of mental health facilities is beneficial by understanding people’s perception toward the likelihood of contracting various diseases, their preferred approach to treatment, and their perception of whether there are enough current facilities. We surveyed over 8000 families across several states of India and asked if they would treat a particular problem at home, visit a local healer, seek religious council, or go to a modern hospital for treatment. Our questions also included non-medical options to assess how likely people are to avoid trained medical help. We also asked people about their perceived likelihood of a family member ever suffering from (1) diarrhea, (2) high fever, (3) alcoholism, and (4) schizophrenia and other mental health problems. We reversed the order of diseases in our questions for a fraction of the population to evaluate the effect of order of questioning. Finally, we asked, if people feel they have enough local healers, religious places, general hospitals, de-addiction centers, and mental health facilities. Despite the taboo around mental health, many people claimed that their family members were unlikely to contract mental health or addiction problems, people recognized the severe paucity of mental health facilities and de-addiction centers. This raises hope for improving the mental health situation in India. We also found a significant relation between education levels and choices people make, underscoring the positive role education has in improving mental health.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acceptability of Mental Health Facilities and De-addiction Centers in India

Singh¹,

Goel²,

Mondal³

et al. 2019

J Exp Neurosci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Recent community-based neuro-psychiatric interventions in India have demonstrated the value of the following programmatic components: training of lay workers to deliver care (tasksharing) to increase access to care in a setting where health professionals are scarce, 7,10,11 improving knowledge and skills for self-care for those affected (psycho-education and community-based-rehabilitation), promoting social inclusion, and supporting access to care for mental, neurological and physical health problems. 15,16,17 In most studies to date the contribution of lay workers has been in identification of people with mental or neurological problems and in facilitating access to care (task-sharing or shifting). 7,10,11 There are almost no studies in high or low income settings that evaluate the value of psychosocial support and care in settings where people with mental health problems cannot or do not access care.…”

Section: Key Messagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effectiveness of a Multi-Pronged Psycho-Social Intervention Among People With Mental Health and Epilepsy Problems - A Pre-Post Prospective Cohort Study Set in North India

Mathias

Corcoran

Pillai

et al. 2020

Int J Health Policy Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: In low- and middle-income settings, many people with mental health problems cannot or do not access psychiatric services. Few studies of people with epilepsy and mental problems have evaluated the effectiveness of a predominantly psycho-social intervention, delivered by lay community workers. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a community-based complex mental health intervention within informal urban communities while simultaneously addressing social determinants of mental health among disadvantaged people with severe and common mental disorders (CMDs), and epilepsy. Methods: In this observational, prospective cohort study set in Uttarakhand, India, the lay-worker led intervention included psychoeducation, behavioural activation, facilitation of access to care, and facilitated psycho-social support groups. Participants were categorised as having a severe or CMD or epilepsy and assessed 5 times over 24 months using primary outcome measures, including the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) (severity of depression), the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0), the Recovery Star, and scoring of a bespoke Engagement Index. Analysis included descriptive statistics as well as hierarchical linear regression models to report fixed effects as regression coefficients. Results: Among the 297 (baseline) participants only 96 people (31%) regularly used psychotropic medication (at least 4 weeks) and over 60% could not or did not consult a psychiatrist at all in the study period. Nonetheless, people with CMDs showed a significant reduction in their depression severity (PHQ9: B=-6.94, 95% CI -7.37 to -6.51), while people with severe mental disorders (SMDs) showed a significant reduction in their disability score (WHODAS 2.0: B=-4.86, 95% CI - 7.14 to- 2.57). People with epilepsy also reduced their disability score (WHODAS 2.0: B=-5.22, 95% CI -7.29 to -3.15). Conclusion: This study shows significant improvements in mental health, depression, recovery, disability and social engagement for people with common and SMDs, and epilepsy, through a community-based intervention that was nonpharmaceutical. It provides preliminary evidence of the value of predominantly psycho-social interventions implemented by lay health workers among people with limited or no access to psychiatric services.

show abstract

Finding the Rainbow in the Deluge: Community Mental Health Perspectives on Psychosocial Impacts of COVID-19 in India

Ebenezer

Alexander

Mukherjee

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Community mental health in rural India: the Shifa project in Padhar Hospital, Madhya Pradesh

Cited by 4 publications

References 7 publications

Acceptability of Mental Health Facilities and De-addiction Centers in India

Acceptability of Mental Health Facilities and De-addiction Centers in India

The Effectiveness of a Multi-Pronged Psycho-Social Intervention Among People With Mental Health and Epilepsy Problems - A Pre-Post Prospective Cohort Study Set in North India

Finding the Rainbow in the Deluge: Community Mental Health Perspectives on Psychosocial Impacts of COVID-19 in India

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About