Identifying challenges and recommendations for advancing global mental health implementation research: A key informant study of the National Institute of Mental Health Scale-Up Hubs.

Journal: Asian journal of psychiatry

Volume: 57

Issue: 

Year of Publication: 2021

Affiliated Institutions:  Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: john_naslund@hms.harvard.edu. Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy, Indian Law Society, Pune, India. Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. Health Promotion and Behavior, College of Public Health, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA. Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia; Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA. Ministry of Health, Malawi, Lilongwe, Malawi. Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA. Centre for Rural Health, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA. Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute for Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, Netherlands. Sangath, Bhopal, India. Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia. Voluntary Health Services, Chennai, India. Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA. Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, USA. Faculty of Nursing, Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone. University of North Carolina Project Malawi, Lilongwe, Malawi.

Abstract summary 

This study explored perspectives of researchers working with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Scale-Up Hubs, consisting of research partnerships for scaling up mental health interventions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), to: 1) identify common barriers to conducting impactful research on the implementation of evidence-based mental health services; and 2) provide recommendations to overcome these implementation challenges.A sequential qualitative approach was employed. First, an open-ended survey was distributed to the 10 Scale-Up Hubs and NIMH program staff asking informants to identify challenges in conducting mental health implementation research in LMICs. Second, survey findings guided an in-person workshop to generate implementation recommendations to inform the field.In total, 46 respondents completed surveys, and 101 researchers attended the workshop. The workshop produced implementation recommendations for low-resource settings: 1) identifying impact of research on policy and practice; 2) sustaining careers of early researchers in global mental health; 3) engaging policymakers and donors to value mental health research; 4) supporting the workforce for delivering evidence-based treatments for mental disorders; and 5) promoting sustainability of programs.These findings can strengthen collaboration between researchers and key stakeholders, and highlight important targets for improving mental health implementation research in LMICs.

Authors & Co-authors:  Naslund Kalha Restivo Amarreh Callands Chen Gomez-Restrepo Hamoda Kapoor Levkoff Masiye Oquendo Patel Petersen Sensoy Bahar Shields-Zeeman Ssewamala Tugnawat Uribe-Restrepo Vijayakumar Wagenaar Wainberg Wissow Wurie Zimba Pathare

Study Outcome 

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Statistics
Citations :  Vigo D, Thornicroft G, Atun R. Estimating the true global burden of mental illness. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2016;3(2):171–178.
Authors :  26
Identifiers
Doi : 10.1016/j.ajp.2021.102557
SSN : 1876-2026
Study Population
Male,Female
Mesh Terms
Global Health
Other Terms
Capacity building;Global health;Implementation research;Low-resource settings;Mental health;Scale up
Study Design
Study Approach
Qualitative
Country of Study
Publication Country
Netherlands