Citation

Chowdhury AN, Brahma A, Banerjee S, Biswas MK. Int. Med. J. 2006; 13(3): 185-190.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Japan International Cultural Exchange Foundation)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Objective: To test the ability of Multi-Purpose Health Workers (MPHW)s of the Sundarban region, India to identify cases of mental illness including alcohol dependence, non-fatal deliberate self-harm, domestic violence as a part of community mental health service at primary care. Materials and Methods: MPHWs were trained to identify common mental illnesses and other psychosocial problems based on the IRMC (identification-referral-monitoring-counselling) model, and subsequently detected and referred cases to the mental health clinic. Results: MPHWs identified and referred 294 cases from four villages of which 161(54.8%) were women. Psychiatric diagnosis (ICD-10 criteria) was made of 48.5% of the total referral. They were able to identify more accurately cases of mental retardation and epilepsy compared with the other mental illnesses. Clinico-demographic findings of domestic violence and non-fatal deliberate self-harm attempts provided valuable insight into approaches of promoting mental health. Conclusion: In most low-income countries including India, mental health training to MPHWs may prove to be an effective way of utilising available resources to deliver mental health services at the primary care level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)