Abstract
Mental illnesses have been on the rise globally, especially in the low- and middle-income countries, including India. India is amid an epidemic of mental illness, ranging from minor anxiety, depression and substance abuse that affects 1 in 20 Indians, to severe psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and various forms of psychosis. The National Mental Health Survey also revealed poor access and availability of mental health care; even 60%–70% of cases of severe mental illnesses did not have access to appropriate and effective treatment. The health systems are not prepared to tackle the emerging mental health challenges. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of frontline health workers in identifying mental health disorders in the rural population. The quasi-experimental implementation research study was conducted in two primary health centres of the Rajgarh block (Alwar). Frontline health workers were trained to screen for mental health disorders using the Global Mental Health Assessment Tool (GMHAT) as a digital tool. A pre- and post-test assessment was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of training and GMHAT. The prevalence of mental health disorders was 8.9%. The training of frontline health workers increased their knowledge of mental health illnesses and competencies in identifying mental diseases using a digital tool. As a result, there was a significant change in access to and availability of mental health care. Training frontline health workers in mental health and harnessing digital technologies would make mental health services more accessible and available in rural areas through primary health care based on district systems.
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