Global Mental Health Trials

Global mental health is a dynamic field of global health; a core aspect of the story which has led to its emergence has been the conduct of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating innovative delivery systems of packages of care for mental disorders in low-resource settings. Global Mental Health Trials brings together many of the world's leading researchers active in the fields of RCTs in low- and medium-resource countries and settings related to improving mental health care. It presents clear and practical information about how to conduct such trials in these settings, along with critical methodological and ethical issues related to such trials, learning from the positive and negative experiences of expert scientists in many countries worldwide who have completed such trials. This book serves as a valuable resource for practitioners in mental health - psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses nursing, psychologists, social workers, and occupational therapists - as well as researchers in the areas of psycho-social treatments in mental health, mental health services research, and programme and systems evaluation.

Over the course of the last decade, political and mental entities at large have embraced global mental health: the idea that psychiatric health is vital to improved quality of life. Physicians globally have implemented guidelines recommended by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in 2007, thereby breaking down barriers to care and improving quality of life in areas where these practices have been implemented. Programs for training and education have expanded as a result. Clinicians benefit more from both local resources in some regions as well as in international collaboration and technological advancements. Even amidst all of these positive outcomes, clinicians still face some stumbling blocks. With worldwide statistics estimating that 450 million people struggle with mental, neuropsychiatric, and neurological disorders—25 percent of the world’s non-communicable disease burden—rising to these challenges prove to be no small feat, even in wealthy Western nations. Various articles and books have been published on global mental health, but few of them thoroughly cover the clinical, research, innovative, and social implications as they pertain to psychiatry; often, only one of these aspects is covered. A comprehensive text that can keep pace with the rapidly evolving literature grows more and more valuable each day as clinicians struggle to piece together the changes around the world that leave open the possibility for improved outcomes in care. This book seeks to boldly rectify this situation by identifying innovative models of service delivery, training, education, research funding, and payment systems that have proven to be exemplary in implementation and scalability or have potential for scalability. Chapters describe specific barriers and challenges, illuminating effective strategies for improved outcomes. This text is the first peer-reviewed resource to gather prestigious physicians in global mental health from around the world and disseminate their expertise in the medical community at large in a format that is updateable, making it a truly cutting-edge resource in a world constantly changed by medical, scientific, and technological advances. Innovations in Global Mental Health is the ultimate resource for psychiatrists, psychologists, primary care physicians, hospitalists, policy makers, and all medical professionals at the forefront of global mental health and its implications for the future.

This is the definitive textbook on global mental health, an emerging priority discipline within global health, which places priority on improving mental health and achieving equity in mental health for all people worldwide.

Written by many of the world's leading practitioners in the delivery of mental health care, this book clearly presents the results of scientific research about care and treatment for people with mental illness in community settings. The book presents clear accounts of what is known, extensively referenced, with critical appraisals of the strength of the evidence and the robustness of the conclusions that can be drawn. Improving Mental Health Care adds to our knowledge of the challenge and the solutions and stands to make a significant contribution to global mental health.

While there is increasing political interest in research and policy-making for global mental health, there remain major gaps in the education of students in health fields for understanding the complexities of diverse mental health conditions. Drawing on the experience of many well-known experts in this area, this book uses engaging narratives to illustrate that mental illnesses are not only problems experienced by individuals but must also be understood and treated at the social and cultural levels. The book -includes discussion of traditional versus biomedical beliefs about mental illness, the role of culture in mental illness, intersections between religion and mental health, intersections of mind and body, and access to health care; -is ideal for courses on global mental health in psychology, public health, and anthropology departments and other health-related programs.

Drawing on the authors’ experience in developing and implementing global mental health programs in crisis and development settings, A Guide to Global Mental Health Practice: Seeing the Unseen is designed for mental health, public health, and primary care professionals new to this emerging area. The guide is organized topically and divided into four sections that move from organizing and delivering global mental health services to clinical practice, and from various settings and populations likely to be encountered to special issues unique to global work. Case studies based around a central scene are threaded throughout the book to convey what global mental health work actually involves. Mental health professionals of all backgrounds, including social workers, nurses, nurse practitioners, psychologists, and psychiatrists, as well as public health professionals and community level medical professionals and mental health advocates will benefit from this engaging primer. It is the book for anyone committed to addressing mental health issues in a low resource or crisis-hit setting, whether international or domestic.