At an event in New Delhi, this report was released in the presence of Ms. Prachi Shukla, WHP Country Director, and USAID representatives.
WHP’s tele-counseling service helped patients with COVID-19, their families and people affected by gender-based violence to overcome mental health problems
New Delhi, India, December 8 – World Health Partners, a leading public health organization, shared key learnings and insights from its 18-month intervention on mental health and gender-based violence in Delhi, Gujarat and Jharkhand. The project was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It was implemented with the technical support of prominent institutions such as the Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP) and the Ranchi Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Related Sciences (RINPAS).
“Learning from the project highlighted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health by focusing on the need to access affordable and timely mental health care,” said Prachi Shukla, Country Director at World Health Partners. “The rise in mental health problems has opened the doors to deploy low-cost digital technologies that can support government efforts to build stronger health systems.”
The project was implemented from June 2021 to November 2022 in 26 districts across the three states with the aim of providing early detection, referral, and social security links for individuals and families affected by COVID-19 and gender-based violence. The project reached more than 500,000 people using the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) assessment tool to assess their mental health status.
Key points:
• During the duration of the project, the WHP telehealth platform received more than 70,000 calls for mental health support.
• Based on WHP Helpline data, 25% of COVID-19 patients were identified as having mental health issues. It also highlights that 16% of relatives of patients with COVID-19 also reported having mental health problems.
• 95% of people with mild mental health problems were found to be normal after completing telecounseling sessions
• In urban settings in all three states, the prevalence of mental health problems among men and women in the 35-59 age group is higher at 21.2% compared to rural settings at 13.2%. .
• A strong link was established between the problems of gender violence and mental health. 77% of people affected by GBV were found to have mental health problems and 96% of them showed improvement after the WHP intervention
• WHP also provided referral services for those who needed institutional care. More than 4,500 people for mental health, gender-based violence and substance use disorders were referred at the three locations.
• During the project, WHP promoted access and linkage to various social security schemes for those most affected. More than INR 5.4 million was deposited in the bank accounts of the vulnerable communities of the project population
• With the goal of strengthening mental health care in primary health care, more than 1,000 key health officials, including Community Health Officers (CHOs), Medical Officers (MOs), and first-line workers online, received training on managing common mental health disorders.
Insights from the project show that telemedicine is increasingly recognized as a viable system for expanding access to mental health care and support.
Dr Rajesh Sagar, Professor and Director of Psychiatry at AIIMS, said: “Telemental health is a game changer when it comes to facilitating access to services in parts of the country that may not have access to the type of quality care. that is available to people in metropolitan areas or Tier 1 cities. There is a need to strengthen the country’s health system and ensure the effective delivery of mental health care in the primary care setting to reach the unreached population.”
The widespread impact of COVID-19 and mental health issues has accelerated a positive momentum in care-seeking behaviour. To support this, the expansion of existing resources and the development of new and innovative platforms require a comprehensive approach to building resilient mental health support systems.
(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you pursuant to an agreement with PNN and PTI assumes no editorial responsibility for it.) ITP PWR
power
