Mental Health Care Services in Community Settings (eBook)

This book discusses approaches used by NGOs in formulating and implementing mental health care in the community in the context of high treatment gap, insufficient public expenditure on health, human resource shortages, heterogeneity of communities as well as cultural beliefs in India. It uses a qualitative case study approach to document and analyse the work of some major NGO-run community mental health programmes in India, all of which cater to vulnerable populations and are in different and diverse regional settings. It casts the spotlight on envisioning community mental health in policy and law, implementation by the government, how it is practised by select NGOs and the challenges involved in programme implementation. In doing so, it hopes to understand the trigger factors that have led to NGOs embarking on community mental health programmes: how needs of the community are understood, the funding mechanisms, how the human resource gap was addressed, type of networks formed in the community, therapeutic and social interventions, accountability mechanisms, achievements and limitations of the programmes. This book is for students and researchers in the fields of social work and psychology, and NGOs, government and funding agencies, and for those interested in understanding and working with community mental health programmes. 

Gayathri Balagopal is an independent researcher based in Chennai whose work experience has been in the development sector as consultant with  The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health, Health Portfolio of Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust and Madras Institute of Development Studies. She is co-editor of the book, Elderly Care in India: Societal and State Responses (2017) with Professor S. Irudaya Rajan. Her research has focussed attention on health and social care among the elderly, rehabilitation of homeless women with mental health issues, employment problems confronting persons with mental health issues, community mental health programmes and social protection in India. Her research interests are in public health, mental health, gerontology and social protection.

Aruna Rose Mary Kapanee is Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS). She has worked at St. John's Research Institute, Bengaluru and Karuna Trust, Bengaluru earlier. Her research has been published in leading journals like Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine and Maternal and Child Nutrition. She was one of the collaborators of the National Mental Health Survey of India 2015-16, which was published by NIMHANS. She has researched individual and family factors associated with psychological distress and well-being in young adults, rehabilitation and recovery in persons with severe mental illness, and community mental health programmes in India. Her research interests are in public mental health, mental health rehabilitation and recovery, peace and conflict resolution.

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This book discusses approaches used by NGOs in formulating and implementing mental health care in the community in the context of high treatment gap, insufficient public expenditure on health, human resource shortages, heterogeneity of communities as well as cultural beliefs in India. It uses a qualitative case study approach to document and analyse the work of some major NGO-run community mental health programmes in India, all of which cater to vulnerable populations and are in different and diverse regional settings. It casts the spotlight on envisioning community mental health in policy and law, implementation by the government, how it is practised by select NGOs and the challenges involved in programme implementation. In doing so, it hopes to understand the trigger factors that have led to NGOs embarking on community mental health programmes: how needs of the community are understood, the funding mechanisms, how the human resource gap was addressed, type of networks formedin the community, therapeutic and social interventions, accountability mechanisms, achievements and limitations of the programmes. This book is for students and researchers in the fields of social work and psychology, and NGOs, government and funding agencies, and for those interested in understanding and working with community mental health programmes.