Mental health in postgraduate social work curriculum: Review of training contents in Indian schools of social work

Abstract

Training of social workers according to the changing needs of the society is important. To this end, we decided to review the adequacy of mental health training in postgraduate programme in social work. The Mental Health Care Act 2017 defines psychiatric social worker (PSW) in India to have additional higher qualification beyond post-graduation in social work. The number of such qualified PSWs appears to be limited due to small number of institutes that offer advanced training in the country. Though, the number of available PSWs with such qualifications is rising, the manpower in proportion to the mental health needs in the country continues to remain low. It is therefore, relevant to review the quality of psychiatric social work education at postgraduate level if this level is to be considered as the desirable qualification for PSW. In this context, postgraduate social work syllabi from 71 universities including autonomous institutions were reviewed using semi-structured assessment. The results show a lack of uniform teaching components, training methods and insufficient skill orientation towards mental health interventions. These observations suggest that curricula and training are modified with strengthening and enhancing the quality of training of mental health at post-graduate level in Social Work.

Awareness and knowledge of integrated counselling and testing centres (ICTC) counsellors about depression among people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV): A descriptive study from Karnataka

“…The reason behind is that all counsellors had either postgraduation in psychology or social work, and these two disciplines comprise papers on counselling. [ 29 ] In addition, previous working experience in the mental health field also could have contributed to gaining knowledge about HIV/AIDS and depression among PLHIV. [ 30 ]…”

Development of A Suicide Prevention Training Module for Social Work Students in India

“…However, there is a lack of uniform teaching components, and training methods, and insufficient skill orientation toward mental health interventions. 6 Social workers are well positioned to play a critical role in suicide, regardless of the specific sub-field that they are working in. They are regularly exposed to people experiencing health and psychosocial challenges, many of which are risk factors for suicide.…”

“…However, there is a lack of uniform teaching components, and training methods, and insufficient skill orientation toward mental health interventions. 6 …”