Background: Mental illnesses are the largest contributors to the global burden of non-communicable diseases. However, there is extremely limited access to high quality, culturally-sensitive, and contextually-appropriate mental healthcare services. This situation persists despite the availability of interventions with proven efficacy to improve patient outcomes. A partnerships network is necessary for successful program adaptation and implementation. Partnerships network: We describe our partnerships network as a case example that addresses challenges in delivering mental healthcare and which can serve as a model for similar settings. Our perspectives are informed from integrating mental healthcare services within a rural public hospital in Nepal. Our approach includes training and supervising generalist health workers by off-site psychiatrists. This is made possible by complementing the strengths and weaknesses of the various groups involved: the public sector, a non-profit organization that provides general healthcare services and one that specializes in mental health, a community advisory board, academic centers in high- and low-income countries, and bicultural professionals from the diaspora community. Conclusions: We propose a partnerships model to assist implementation of promising programs to expand access to mental healthcare in low- resource settings. We describe the success and limitations of our current partners in a mental health program in rural Nepal.
CITATION STYLE
Acharya, B., Maru, D., Schwarz, R., Citrin, D., Tenpa, J., Hirachan, S., … Ekstrand, M. (2017, January 13). Partnerships in mental healthcare service delivery in low-resource settings: Developing an innovative network in rural Nepal. Globalization and Health. BioMed Central Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-016-0226-0
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