An integrated community and primary healthcare worker intervention to reduce stigma and improve management of common mental disorders in rural India: protocol for the SMART Mental Health programme.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Around 1 in 7 people in India are impacted by mental illness. The treatment gap for people with mental disorders is as high as 75-95%. Health care systems, especially in rural regions in India, face substantial challenges to address these gaps in care, and innovative strategies are needed.

Methods

We hypothesise that an intervention involving an anti-stigma campaign and a mobile-technology-based electronic decision support system will result in reduced stigma and improved mental health for adults at high risk of common mental disorders. It will be implemented as a parallel-group cluster randomised, controlled trial in 44 primary health centre clusters servicing 133 villages in rural Andhra Pradesh and Haryana. Adults aged ≥ 18 years will be screened for depression

SUBMITTER: Daniel M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7923507 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature