PERSPECTIVES: Mental Health Policy in India: Seven Sets of Questions and Some Answers.
DISCUSSION: Perhaps the highest priority in achieving the goals of greater access and better quality is to increase the number of trained personnel at all levels of specialization and skilling that are relevant. Further, while the new legal framework and policy identify the importance of information technology in rapid expansion of access to mental healthcare, more context-specific research and trials are needed. With respect to the administration and management needs of the public system, important challenges will be the need for significant organizational innovations in the education system, and cultural changes that allow specialized medical professionals to accept the use of software and less-qualified, more dispersed, frontline providers. A final area is the interface between the public and private sectors, including the role of non-profit organizations: challenges include information sharing, division of responsibilities, and resource allocation.
IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVISION AND USE: Our analysis suggests that incorporating information technology, along with training professionals at a variety of skill levels in its use, may provide a resource-feasible approach to improving access to mental healthcare at reasonable cost and quality in the Indian context.
IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH POLICIES: India's mental health policies are already undergoing major changes, and our analysis emphasizes the need for translating these generic policies into specific ...
Source: Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics - Category: Psychiatry Tags: J Ment Health Policy Econ Source Type: research
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