Suchergebnisse

INTRODUCTION: Mental health issues are on an exponential rise in Kashmir due to varied reasons including political instability, eco fragility, the growing lag in the provision of education and employment, and several other reasons. Impediments such as the overwhelming stigma and the cultural sensitivity associated with mental health issues both sustain and perpetuate mental ill health and also prevent any treatment and rehabilitation. This article describes the protocol of a research project, funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research, which aims to address this issue. AIM: To screen the population for mental health issues and to provide community-based intervention for the identified cases also to train community health workers for sustainable mental health support. METHODS: We will conduct a household survey using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-25) for the identification of the clients. A multi-stage random sampling shall be used to select the villages and the households from the marginalized communities. A sample of 500 respondents shall be screened using HSCL-25. Those who screen positive for mental health issues will be offered cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) by a qualified clinical psychologist. The research will be able to address the diagnosis of depression and anxiety-related cases and the subsequent intervention. Additionally, we will utilize the facilitator's manual for Mental Health Training Program for Community Health Workers to build sustainable mental health services in community settings. DISCUSSION: The study shall present a roadmap focusing on the indispensability of a comprehensive community-based intervention on mental health utilizing a non-pharmacological method. Assessing and analyzing the dynamics of mental health illness first hand, the study shall move ahead to offer a culturally tailored counseling program at the community level. The study also aims to highlight the role of the indigenous human resource (community health workers) and how its participation leads to a more ...

In recent years mental health has emerged as a major health threat in low income countries like India. In response, mental health care has been integrated into primary health care, in turn creating a rising demand for trained and skillful mental health professionals. This study was conducted in district Budgam (J&K), India with the aim of providing training to community health workers (CHWs) and measuring the change using pre- and post-training evaluations. The pre and post tests were undertaken, assessing changes in mental health literacy at three different points of time: pre-training, post-training, and three month follow-up. Mental health literacy was assessed using the interviewer-administered Mental Health Literacy Survey. The training intervention was a five-day course based on a facilitator's manual developed specifically for community health workers in India. A total of 25 community health workers from rural areas of Budgam District (mostly Integrated Child Development Service supervisors), Health Educators and Anganwadi Workers, were engaged for the study. Findings demonstrate that the training course improved participants' ability to recognize any mental health disorders. There was a clear distinction between the level of awareness pre- and post- training. The results were statistically significant on various domains Ability to recognize disorders (Pre-post P= 0.001), Knowledge of the professional help available (Pre-post p= 0.000), Attitudes that promote the recognition or appropriate help-seeking behavior (Pre-post p= 0.000) (p<0.05). Further follow up after three months was done. The mixed findings from this study, suggesting the training course has potential to improve some aspects of mental health literacy among the CHWs, including their understanding of various mental health problems.