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A structured approach to integrating mental health services into primary care: development of the Mental Health Scale Up Nigeria intervention (mhSUN).

ABSTRACT: Background:The treatment gap for mental illness in Nigeria, as in other sub-Saharan countries, is estimated to be around 85%. There is need to prioritise mental health care in low and middle income countries by providing a strong body of evidence for effective services, particularly with a view to increasing international and government confidence in investment in scaling up appropriate services. This paper lays out the processes by which a programme to integrate evidence-based mental health care into primary care services in Nigeria was designed, including a research framework to provide evidence from a robust evaluation. Methods:This paper forms the first step in the overall process evaluation of the mhSUN intervention, where standard research practice indicates that the intervention, and its development, is clearly documented prior to subsequent evaluation. The report covers the period of programme development and evaluation design, and study site and design was chosen to allow generalisability and practical conclusions to be drawn for service development in Nigeria. In order to design an intervention that was informed by evidence and took into account local context and input of stakeholders, a structured process was followed, including: (1) Engagement of relevant stakeholders for information gathering and buy-in; (2) Literature review and gathering of pertinent evidence; (3) Situation analysis at a national and local level; (4) Model development (using Theory of Change); (5) Ongoing consultation, recognising the iterative nature of Theory of Change, and need for ongoing refinement of complex interventions. Results:The different sections of the structured approach resulted in outputs that built the necessary components (literature review, situation analysis) for informing the Theory of Change. A Theory of Change map is presented, which includes transparent documentation of the assumptions and logic behind the activities to drive the desired change. In addition, it documents the indicators necessary to measure fidelity and draw conclusions as to hypothesised effects of different mechanisms of action in subsequent evaluation. Conclusion:In addition to the details of ensuring robust evaluation design, there are a number of considerations that are particular to the context that must be taken into account in programme development, including the relationships between ultimate beneficiaries, implementers, host government and institutions, donors, and programme evaluators. Structured methods from existing frameworks can be drawn upon to use and collate relevant information to maximise the local applicability of a generic evidence base. Theory of Change, with its documented assumptions can form the basis of subsequent evaluation and iterative programme refinement, contributing to a more scientifically valid means of developing mental health programmes for scale up.

SUBMITTER: Eaton J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5870530 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A structured approach to integrating mental health services into primary care: development of the Mental Health Scale Up Nigeria intervention (mhSUN).

Eaton Julian J Gureje Oye O De Silva Mary M Sheikh Taiwo Lateef TL Ekpe Ekpe Esien EE Abdulaziz Mohammed M Muhammad Asiya A Akande Yusuf Y Onukogu Uchechi U Onyuku Theo T Abdulmalik Jibril J Fadahunsi Woye W Nwefoh Emeka E Cohen Alex A

International journal of mental health systems 20180327

<h4>Background</h4>The treatment gap for mental illness in Nigeria, as in other sub-Saharan countries, is estimated to be around 85%. There is need to prioritise mental health care in low and middle income countries by providing a strong body of evidence for effective services, particularly with a view to increasing international and government confidence in investment in scaling up appropriate services. This paper lays out the processes by which a programme to integrate evidence-based mental he ...[more]

PMID: 29599820

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Project description:Despite the rising burden of noncommunicable diseases, access to quality decentralized noncommunicable disease services remain limited in many low- and middle-income countries. Here we describe the strategies we employed to drive the process from adaptation to national endorsement and implementation of the 2016 Botswana primary healthcare guidelines for adults. The strategies included detailed multilevel assessment with broad stakeholder inputs and in-depth analysis of local data; leveraging academic partnerships; facilitating development of supporting policy instruments; and embedding noncommunicable disease guidelines within broader primary health-care guidelines in keeping with the health ministry strategic direction. At facility level, strategies included developing a multimethod training programme for health-care providers, leveraging on the experience of provision of human immunodeficiency virus care and engaging health-care implementers early in the process. Through the strategies employed, the country's first national primary health-care guidelines were endorsed in 2016 and a phased three-year implementation started in August 2017. In addition, provision of primary health-care delivery of noncommunicable disease services was included in the country's 11th national development plan (2017-2023). During the guideline development process, we learnt that strong interdisciplinary skills in communication, organization, coalition building and systems thinking, and technical grasp of best-practices in low- and middle-income countries were important. Furthermore, misaligned agendas of stakeholders, exaggerated by a siloed approach to guideline development, underestimation of the importance of having policy instruments in place and coordination of the processes initially being led outside the health ministry caused delays. Our experience is relevant to other countries interested in developing and implementing guidelines for evidence-based noncommunicable disease services.

Project description:OBJECTIVES:To identify a generic set of face valid quality indicators for primary care mental health services which reflect a multi-stakeholder perspective and can be used for facilitating quality improvement. DESIGN:Modified two-round postal Delphi questionnaire. SETTING:Geographical spread across Great Britain. PARTICIPANTS:One hundred and fifteen panellists representing 11 different stakeholder groups within primary care mental health services (clinical psychologist, health and social care commissioner, community psychiatric nurse, counsellor, general practitioner, practice nurse/district nurse/health visitor, psychiatrist, social worker, carer, patient and voluntary organisations). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Face validity (median rating of 8 or 9 on a nine point scale with agreement by all panels) for assessing quality of care. RESULTS:A maximum of 334 indicators were rated by panels in the second round; 26% were rated valid by all panels. These indicators were categorised into 21 aspects of care, 11 relating to general practices and 10 relating to health authorities or primary care groups/trusts. There was variation in the total number of indicators rated valid across the different panels. Overall, GPs rated the lowest number of indicators as valid (41%, n=138) and carers rated the highest number valid (91%, n=304). CONCLUSIONS:The quality indicators represent consensus among key stakeholder groups in defining quality of care within primary care mental health services. These indicators could provide a guide for primary care organisations embarking on quality improvement initiatives in mental health care when addressing national targets and standards relating to primary care set out in the National Service Framework for Mental Health for England. Although many of the indicators relate to parochial issues in UK service delivery, the methodology used in the development of the indicators could be applied in other settings to produce locally relevant indicators.

Project description:BackgroundDigital mental health interventions (DMHIs) represent a promising solution to address the growing unmet mental health needs and increase access to care. Integrating DMHIs into clinical and community settings is challenging and complex. Frameworks that explore a wide range of factors, such as the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment (EPIS) framework, can be useful for examining multilevel factors related to DMHI implementation efforts.ObjectiveThis paper aimed to identify the barriers to, facilitators of, and best practice recommendations for implementing DMHIs across similar organizational settings, according to the EPIS domains of inner context, outer context, innovation factors, and bridging factors.MethodsThis study stems from a large state-funded project in which 6 county behavioral health departments in California explored the use of DMHIs as part of county mental health services. Our team conducted interviews with clinical staff, peer support specialists, county leaders, project leaders, and clinic leaders using a semistructured interview guide. The development of the semistructured interview guide was informed by expert input regarding relevant inner context, outer context, innovation factors, and bridging factors in the exploration, preparation, and implementation phases of the EPIS framework. We followed a recursive 6-step process to conduct qualitative analyses using inductive and deductive components guided by the EPIS framework.ResultsOn the basis of 69 interviews, we identified 3 main themes that aligned with the EPIS framework: readiness of individuals, readiness of innovations, and readiness of organizations and systems. Individual-level readiness referred to the extent to which clients had the necessary technological tools (eg, smartphones) and knowledge (digital literacy) to support the DMHI. Innovation-level readiness pertained to the accessibility, usefulness, safety, and fit of the DMHI. Organization- and system-level readiness concerned the extent to which providers and leadership collectively held positive views about DMHIs as well as the extent to which infrastructure (eg, staffing and payment model) was appropriate.ConclusionsThe successful implementation of DMHIs requires readiness at the individual, innovation, and organization and system levels. To improve individual-level readiness, we recommend equitable device distribution and digital literacy training. To improve innovation readiness, we recommend making DMHIs easier to use and introduce, clinically useful, and safe and adapting them to fit into the existing client needs and clinical workflow. To improve organization- and system-level readiness, we recommend supporting providers and local behavioral health departments with adequate technology and training and exploring potential system transformations (eg, integrated care model). Conceptualizing DMHIs as services allows the consideration of both the innovation characteristics of DMHIs (eg, efficacy, safety, and clinical usefulness) and the ecosystem around DMHIs, such as individual and organizational characteristics (inner context), purveyors and intermediaries (bridging factor), client characteristics (outer context), as well as the fit between the innovation and implementation settings (innovation factor).

Project description:IntroductionDepression and alcohol use disorders are international public health priorities for which there is a substantial treatment gap. Brief mental health interventions delivered by lay health workers in primary care services may reduce this gap. There is limited economic evidence assessing the cost-effectiveness of such interventions in low-income and middle-income countries. This paper describes the proposed economic evaluation of a health systems intervention testing the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of two task-sharing approaches to integrating services for common mental disorders with HIV and diabetes primary care services.Methods and analysisThis evaluation will be conducted as part of a three-armed cluster randomised controlled trial of clinical effectiveness. Trial clinical outcome measures will include primary outcomes for risk of depression and alcohol use, and secondary outcomes for risk of chronic disease (HIV and diabetes) treatment failure. The cost-effectiveness analysis will evaluate cost per unit change in Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test and Centre for Epidemiological Studies scale on Depression scores as well as cost per unit change in HIV RNA viral load and haemoglobin A1c, producing results of provider and patient cost per patient year for each study arm and chronic disease. The cost utility analyses will provide results of cost per quality-adjusted life year gained. Additional analyses relevant for implementation including budget impact analyses will be conducted to inform the development of a business case for scaling up the country's investment in mental health services.Ethics and disseminationThe Western Cape Department of Health (WCDoH) (WC2016_RP6_9), the South African Medical Research Council (EC 004-2/2015), the University of Cape Town (089/2015) and Oxford University (OxTREC 2-17) provided ethical approval for this study. Results dissemination will include policy briefs, social media, peer-reviewed papers, a policy dialogue workshop and press briefings.Trial registration numberPACTR201610001825405.

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A structured approach to integrating mental health services into primary care: development of the Mental Health Scale Up Nigeria intervention (mhSUN).

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A structured approach to integrating mental health services into primary care: development of the Mental Health Scale Up Nigeria intervention (mhSUN).

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