Bibhav Acharya1,2, Soniya Hirachan3, Jeffery S Mandel4, Craig van Dyke4. 1. University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. bibhav.acharya@ucsf.edu. 2. Shared Minds, Boston, MA, USA. bibhav.acharya@ucsf.edu. 3. Shared Minds, Boston, MA, USA. 4. University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: In low- and middle-income countries, the majority of individuals with mental illness go untreated largely because of a severe shortage of mental health professionals. Global initiatives to close the mental health treatment gap focus on primary care providers delivering this care. For this to be effective, primary care providers require the skills to assess, diagnose, and treat patients with mental illness. METHODS: To assess primary care providers' training and experience in caring for mental health patients, the authors conducted five focus groups at three isolated district hospitals in rural Nepal where there was no access to mental health professionals. RESULTS: Primary care providers reported limited training, lack of knowledge and skills, and discomfort in delivering mental health care. CONCLUSION: To address the mental health education gap, primary care providers in Nepal, and perhaps other low- and middle-income countries, require more training during both undergraduate and graduate medical education.
OBJECTIVE: In low- and middle-income countries, the majority of individuals with mental illness go untreated largely because of a severe shortage of mental health professionals. Global initiatives to close the mental health treatment gap focus on primary care providers delivering this care. For this to be effective, primary care providers require the skills to assess, diagnose, and treat patients with mental illness. METHODS: To assess primary care providers' training and experience in caring for mental health patients, the authors conducted five focus groups at three isolated district hospitals in rural Nepal where there was no access to mental health professionals. RESULTS: Primary care providers reported limited training, lack of knowledge and skills, and discomfort in delivering mental health care. CONCLUSION: To address the mental health education gap, primary care providers in Nepal, and perhaps other low- and middle-income countries, require more training during both undergraduate and graduate medical education.
Entities:
Keywords:
Education; Global Mental Health; Needs Assessment; Nepal; Task-shifting
Authors: Koen Demyttenaere; Ronny Bruffaerts; Jose Posada-Villa; Isabelle Gasquet; Viviane Kovess; Jean Pierre Lepine; Matthias C Angermeyer; Sebastian Bernert; Giovanni de Girolamo; Pierluigi Morosini; Gabriella Polidori; Takehiko Kikkawa; Norito Kawakami; Yutaka Ono; Tadashi Takeshima; Hidenori Uda; Elie G Karam; John A Fayyad; Aimee N Karam; Zeina N Mneimneh; Maria Elena Medina-Mora; Guilherme Borges; Carmen Lara; Ron de Graaf; Johan Ormel; Oye Gureje; Yucun Shen; Yueqin Huang; Mingyuan Zhang; Jordi Alonso; Josep Maria Haro; Gemma Vilagut; Evelyn J Bromet; Semyon Gluzman; Charles Webb; Ronald C Kessler; Kathleen R Merikangas; James C Anthony; Michael R Von Korff; Philip S Wang; Traolach S Brugha; Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola; Sing Lee; Steven Heeringa; Beth-Ellen Pennell; Alan M Zaslavsky; T Bedirhan Ustun; Somnath Chatterji Journal: JAMA Date: 2004-06-02 Impact factor: 56.272
Authors: B Acharya; J Tenpa; M Basnet; S Hirachan; P Rimal; N Choudhury; P Thapa; D Citrin; S Halliday; S B Swar; C van Dyke; B Gauchan; B Sharma; E Hung; M Ekstrand Journal: Glob Ment Health (Camb) Date: 2017-05-02
Authors: Colin Buzza; Anna Fiskin; Jorien Campbell; Jennifer Guo; Jacob Izenberg; Barbara Kamholz; Erick Hung; Bibhav Acharya Journal: Ann Glob Health Date: 2018-11-05 Impact factor: 2.462