Stake holder perspectives on the role of accredited social health activists (ASHAs) in Indian public mental healthcare space: A qualitative study
Background: Community health workers such as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) are existing resources who can facilitate the bridging of the mental health treatment gap. Knowing about the perspectives of ASHAs in delivering mental health care and other professionals with experience working...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.jfmpc.com/article.asp?issn=2249-4863;year=2022;volume=11;issue=11;spage=7308;epage=7315;aulast=Varshney |
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| author | Prateek Varshney Barikar C Malathesh P L Nirisha Nisha R Harshitha Nithesh Kulal Channaveerachari N Kumar Gopi Gajera Satish Suhas Patley Rahul H A Harshitha Narayana Manjunatha Adarsha A Manjappa Suresh B Math Jagadisha Thirthalli |
| author_facet | Prateek Varshney Barikar C Malathesh P L Nirisha Nisha R Harshitha Nithesh Kulal Channaveerachari N Kumar Gopi Gajera Satish Suhas Patley Rahul H A Harshitha Narayana Manjunatha Adarsha A Manjappa Suresh B Math Jagadisha Thirthalli |
| author_sort | Prateek Varshney |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Community health workers such as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) are existing resources who can facilitate the bridging of the mental health treatment gap. Knowing about the perspectives of ASHAs in delivering mental health care and other professionals with experience working in the area of community mental health is imperative. Method: As part of an implementation research project aimed at comparing the effectiveness of two training methods for community health workers (ASHAs), we conducted five focussed group discussions including four with ASHAs (n = 34) and one with other stakeholders (n = 10). Focussed Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted under the following themes: acceptance and feasibility of provision of mental health services from ASHA's point of view and understanding the supply and demand side opportunities and challenges. The discussion began with open-ended questions, allowing for new themes to emerge until saturation was reached. Results: ASHAs were willing to incorporate mental health identification (and referral) in their regular activities without additional perceived burden. ASHAs were easily able to identify severe mental disorders (SMDs). For substance use disorders (SUDs), due to factors such as normalization of substance consumption and stigma, there was a felt difficulty in the recognition by ASHAs. ASHAs' difficulty in identifying the CMDs was because of poor awareness in both those with mental illness and ASHAs. Incentivizing the work of ASHAs was thought to yield more returns. Conclusions: ASHAs have the potential to be excellent resources for easy screening, identification, and follow-up of those with mental health concerns in the community. Policies to involve them need to evolve. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T23:24:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-531457adda7c41cebbb7bcd2e4d9e8bc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2249-4863 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T23:24:01Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care |
| spelling | doaj.art-531457adda7c41cebbb7bcd2e4d9e8bc2023-01-12T12:42:33ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Family Medicine and Primary Care2249-48632022-01-0111117308731510.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_543_22Stake holder perspectives on the role of accredited social health activists (ASHAs) in Indian public mental healthcare space: A qualitative studyPrateek VarshneyBarikar C MalatheshP L NirishaNisha R HarshithaNithesh KulalChannaveerachari N KumarGopi GajeraSatish SuhasPatley RahulH A HarshithaNarayana ManjunathaAdarsha A ManjappaSuresh B MathJagadisha ThirthalliBackground: Community health workers such as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) are existing resources who can facilitate the bridging of the mental health treatment gap. Knowing about the perspectives of ASHAs in delivering mental health care and other professionals with experience working in the area of community mental health is imperative. Method: As part of an implementation research project aimed at comparing the effectiveness of two training methods for community health workers (ASHAs), we conducted five focussed group discussions including four with ASHAs (n = 34) and one with other stakeholders (n = 10). Focussed Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted under the following themes: acceptance and feasibility of provision of mental health services from ASHA's point of view and understanding the supply and demand side opportunities and challenges. The discussion began with open-ended questions, allowing for new themes to emerge until saturation was reached. Results: ASHAs were willing to incorporate mental health identification (and referral) in their regular activities without additional perceived burden. ASHAs were easily able to identify severe mental disorders (SMDs). For substance use disorders (SUDs), due to factors such as normalization of substance consumption and stigma, there was a felt difficulty in the recognition by ASHAs. ASHAs' difficulty in identifying the CMDs was because of poor awareness in both those with mental illness and ASHAs. Incentivizing the work of ASHAs was thought to yield more returns. Conclusions: ASHAs have the potential to be excellent resources for easy screening, identification, and follow-up of those with mental health concerns in the community. Policies to involve them need to evolve.http://www.jfmpc.com/article.asp?issn=2249-4863;year=2022;volume=11;issue=11;spage=7308;epage=7315;aulast=Varshneycommunity health care workercommunity mental healthqualitative researchtask-sharingtask-shifting |
| spellingShingle | Prateek Varshney Barikar C Malathesh P L Nirisha Nisha R Harshitha Nithesh Kulal Channaveerachari N Kumar Gopi Gajera Satish Suhas Patley Rahul H A Harshitha Narayana Manjunatha Adarsha A Manjappa Suresh B Math Jagadisha Thirthalli Stake holder perspectives on the role of accredited social health activists (ASHAs) in Indian public mental healthcare space: A qualitative study Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care community health care worker community mental health qualitative research task-sharing task-shifting |
| title | Stake holder perspectives on the role of accredited social health activists (ASHAs) in Indian public mental healthcare space: A qualitative study |
| title_full | Stake holder perspectives on the role of accredited social health activists (ASHAs) in Indian public mental healthcare space: A qualitative study |
| title_fullStr | Stake holder perspectives on the role of accredited social health activists (ASHAs) in Indian public mental healthcare space: A qualitative study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stake holder perspectives on the role of accredited social health activists (ASHAs) in Indian public mental healthcare space: A qualitative study |
| title_short | Stake holder perspectives on the role of accredited social health activists (ASHAs) in Indian public mental healthcare space: A qualitative study |
| title_sort | stake holder perspectives on the role of accredited social health activists ashas in indian public mental healthcare space a qualitative study |
| topic | community health care worker community mental health qualitative research task-sharing task-shifting |
| url | http://www.jfmpc.com/article.asp?issn=2249-4863;year=2022;volume=11;issue=11;spage=7308;epage=7315;aulast=Varshney |
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