Mental Health <http://truguj.org/programmes/mental-health> [image: E-mail]<http://truguj.org/component/mailto/?tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL3RydWd1ai5vcmcvcHJvZ3JhbW1lcy9tZW50YWwtaGVhbHRo>
*Background* The general view of mental illnesses is that their treatment requires institutional care. TRU, however, has been successfully applying its experience with community health activities to the field of psychiatry. Since 2004, 65% of mentally ill patients who reported to TRU have have been rehabilitated. This success rate prompted the training of CHC and PHC staff on the TRU model. Furthermore, the model was applied in Halol and Jambughoda blocks, where TRU set up the infrastructure and imparted training to ASHA workers. *Approach* TRU established psychiatric OPDs at three locations in Halol and Jambughoda blocks, in addition to the OPD that had already been set up in Shivrajpur. A total of 236 villages and 1,90,000 people were surveyed, and approximately 80 ASHA workers and 8 PHCs participated in the mental health initiatives. Patients who had been off medication owing to various constraints were actively sought and offered follow up care and counseling. The aim was to understand why people went off medication and at what stage they considered themselves mentally fit to resume work. In addition, through surveys, an attempt was made to understand the triggers of mental illnesses. Most importantly, TRU conducted various programs to train ASHA workers to impart mental health initiatives. *Response* - In all 646 patients attended the new OPDs. - More than 2000 patient visits were recorded at the new OPDs - TRU followed up on 457 of the 646 patients that attended the OPDs Trust for Reaching the Unreached Organization: Trust for Reaching the Unreached (TRU) (http://truguj.org) Team Member: Asti Bhatt ([email protected]) A new approach to handle mental illnesses among the marginalized communities in India has been implemented as a pilot project in the Panchmahals district of Gujarat state in India. The approach aims for a near total rehabilitation of mentally ill patients. This involves personal, social, and economical rehabilitation. It enables patients to take care of themselves in terms of their personal hygiene, helps them rehabilitate in their own families, makes them socially participative in their communities, and helps them rejoin their livelihoods according to their skill sets prior to suffering a mental illness. This approach is made possible by integrating mental health into a general community based health care model working with health workers from the community itself. The issues related to mental health are widespread in communities under constant stress. Patients suffering from mental illnesses often have no more choice than to go to a folk healer, and often get mistreated by the community. Women, especially, often suffer greater pain and sexual harassment as a consequence of their illness. There is currently an extreme shortage of psychiatric services, including community minded and patient oriented health care professionals, psychiatric nurses and social workers. This is the problem we seek to address. Non‐community‐based psychiatric care is often based on medicines and one time solutions, rather than on constant care and requisite follow‐up. To this purpose, the people trained as mental health community workers are those who are trained in general health care services, are part of the communities themselves and are equipped to maintain a long term relationship with the patients. This makes the task of relationship‐building with the patients' families easier leading to increased chances of rehabilitation of the patient. To assist these workers, aids in the form of booklets, pictures and other literature are also developed, along with regular trainings. The target population for the pilot project is a set of tribal and dalit (backward caste) communities of Panchmahals district in Gujarat state of India. However, we envisage upon successful completion of this pilot program, that this community based approach can be scaled up to serve the mental health needs of marginalized communities in all of rural India. Mental health patients include both men & women from various tribal and dalit hierarchies in the region. A rather unique approach towards inclusivity is that the mental health community workers establish communication with traditional folk healers (instead of discouraging their involvement) and encourage them to send patients to the community health workers thus ensuring that these patients receive the psychiatric care they require. Teaching aides for community health workers and teachers have been developed through this pilot project, which can be easily translated in other languages in order to implement this approach on a pan‐Indian scale. A community based approach needs to be introduced in people's consciousness through continuous communication with not only patients and their families, but also with communities at large through creative means. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Mental Health Advocacy (News 'N Views) India" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/MhaNewsViewsIndia?hl=en ------------- Affiliated Groups : MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY INDIA [email protected] Discussions on mental health law / policy / plan monitoring / human rights etc [email protected] India-specific news and views related to mental health [email protected] Information and support to carers of people with mental health issues [email protected] Mutual support and sharing of experiential knowledge, skills and social learning amongst peers
