Scaling up mental healthcare in the Republic of Niger: priorities for and barriers to service improvement
As part of a pilot programme to scale up community mental health services, local health centre directors, community health workers and key informants were interviewed in two neighbouring political districts of Niger. Major priorities for improving services included training staff on the diagnosis an...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2015-05-01
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| Series: | BJPsych International |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056474000000763/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1811157174700736512 |
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| author | Alison Hwong Djibo Maiga Douma Soumana Zamo Julian Eaton |
| author_facet | Alison Hwong Djibo Maiga Douma Soumana Zamo Julian Eaton |
| author_sort | Alison Hwong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As part of a pilot programme to scale up community mental health services, local health centre directors, community health workers and key informants were interviewed in two neighbouring political districts of Niger. Major priorities for improving services included training staff on the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, collaborating with traditional healers, educating the community about the origins of psychiatric illness and building infrastructure for medication delivery. Barriers to care included long distances for travel to the nearest hospital and lack of funding for home-based visits by health workers. This study was the first step in Niger's plan to implement the World Health Organization's Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) at a national level. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:01:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-94adffc9af1840f380ef6ad306628910 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2056-4740 2058-6264 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:01:31Z |
| publishDate | 2015-05-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BJPsych International |
| spelling | doaj.art-94adffc9af1840f380ef6ad3066289102023-03-09T12:28:20ZengCambridge University PressBJPsych International2056-47402058-62642015-05-0112S-6S-910.1192/S2056474000000763Scaling up mental healthcare in the Republic of Niger: priorities for and barriers to service improvementAlison Hwong0Djibo Maiga Douma1Soumana Zamo2Julian Eaton3Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA, emailNational Programme in Mental Health, Ministry of Public Health, Niger Faculty of Health Sciences, Abdou Moumouni University, Niamey, NigerCBM Niger Country Coordination Office, Niamey, NigerCBM West Africa Regional Office, Lomé, TogoAs part of a pilot programme to scale up community mental health services, local health centre directors, community health workers and key informants were interviewed in two neighbouring political districts of Niger. Major priorities for improving services included training staff on the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, collaborating with traditional healers, educating the community about the origins of psychiatric illness and building infrastructure for medication delivery. Barriers to care included long distances for travel to the nearest hospital and lack of funding for home-based visits by health workers. This study was the first step in Niger's plan to implement the World Health Organization's Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) at a national level.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056474000000763/type/journal_article |
| spellingShingle | Alison Hwong Djibo Maiga Douma Soumana Zamo Julian Eaton Scaling up mental healthcare in the Republic of Niger: priorities for and barriers to service improvement BJPsych International |
| title | Scaling up mental healthcare in the Republic of Niger: priorities for and barriers to service improvement |
| title_full | Scaling up mental healthcare in the Republic of Niger: priorities for and barriers to service improvement |
| title_fullStr | Scaling up mental healthcare in the Republic of Niger: priorities for and barriers to service improvement |
| title_full_unstemmed | Scaling up mental healthcare in the Republic of Niger: priorities for and barriers to service improvement |
| title_short | Scaling up mental healthcare in the Republic of Niger: priorities for and barriers to service improvement |
| title_sort | scaling up mental healthcare in the republic of niger priorities for and barriers to service improvement |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056474000000763/type/journal_article |
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