Reconceptualizing transnational knowledge transfer in mental health services: Reflection upon the postcolonial era

Abstract

Knowledge transfer in global mental health services has long been depicted from Western perspectives. This article destabilizes this discourse through a conceptual model that integrates the top-down approach (macro postcolonial context, meso transnational knowledge transfer and micro mental health programmes) and the bottom-up approach (the roles of transcreation in reconfiguring micro mental health intervention, meso mental health services integration and macro policy advocacy and reform). This article raises social workers’ awareness of ongoing development of mental health services from a decolonizing perspective, and guides social work research and practice to continue the decolonization of global mental health services.