ROSHNI

In Kerala, about 11.36% of the total population is affected by mental disorders, including schizophrenia and other depressive disorders. This figure is almost double the national prevalence of 6%. The knowledge, practices and policies regarding mental health within the state are at a nascent stage. Access to counselling care and psychiatric services is limited. Thus, there is a need to look at a multi-pronged approach which involves providing information regarding mental health services and allows for access to mental health services. There is also a need for a community awareness programme that helps build a community sensitive and empathetic to the cause. These together will encourage an individual to seek help early allowing for mitigating and reducing the harms related to mental health through greater understanding and help-seeking behaviour

Three critical services will be provided

1. Run a monthly counselling and psychiatry clinic on OWT premises

2. Follow up with home care where medication is provided to clients by health professionals

3. Conduct awareness classes on common mental disorders with grassroots health workers, influencers, and members of the community.

This will:

•       Make mental health services easily accessible, and affordable, with minimum cost to the individual, by providing information on

the district systems available and running a psychiatric + counselling clinic on OWT premises

•     Ensure that the schedule for medication is maintained through home care services which will be conducted by the health

professionals

•    Enhance the knowledge of influencers and grassroots health professionals regarding mental health so that there is early

detection of clients in need of psychiatric or counselling services

•       Encourage help-seeking behaviour by removing the stigma of approaching health professionals for support and early

detection of mental health issues

•       Help develop a volunteer network for mental health, sensitization + providing knowledge of the district and other systems for

health

The impact on significant stakeholders will be the following:

•       Community: Learns to acknowledge, identify and articulate issues to do with mental well-being or the lack of it and gets

empowered to take action

•      Duty bearers: Get sensitized to the issue and understand the communities better in terms of the problems faced. It allows

for the prioritization of mental health programmes which will strengthen confidence in the system, provide linkages between

community, public health institutions and district mental health programmes

•       Health workers: greater access and engagement with clients who need care
•       Team: Be the enablers and take a leadership role in creating platforms and spaces for bringing together the different

stakeholders.