Resources search

COVID-19 and Humanitarian Crisis

2020

Expand view

A COVID-19 Humanitarian platform to gather, curate, analyze, interpret and disseminate COVID-19-specific and -sensitive interventions that are being implemented in a variety of humanitarian settings.

The goal is to facilitate the sharing of context-specific field experiences about how humanitarian programs are responding to and being adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic. This website will host both technical guidelines as well as operational field experiences from humanitarian actors in different settings.

MAANASI - A sustained, innovative, integrated mental healthcare model in South India

JAYARAM, Geetha
GOUD, Ramakrishna
CHANDRAN, Souhas
PRADEEP, Johnson
2019

Expand view

Studies in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) point to a significant association of common mental disorders with female gender, low education, and poverty. Depression and anxiety are frequently complicated by lack of disease awareness and non-adherence, the absence of care and provider resources, low value given to mental health by policy-makers, stigma, and discrimination towards the mentally ill. This paper aims to show that female village leaders/ community health and outreach workers (CHWs) can be used to overcome the lack of psychiatric resources for treatment of common mental disorders in rural areas.

A multidisciplinary team was set up to evaluate and treat potential clients in the villages. A program of care delivery was planned, developed and implemented by: (a) targeting indigent women in the region; (b) integrating mental health care with primary care; (c) making care affordable and accessible by training local women as CHWs with ongoing continued supervision; and (d) sustaining the program long-term.   Indigenous CHWs served as a link between the centre and the community. They received hands-on training, ongoing supervision, and an abridged but focused training module to identify common mental disorders, help treatment compliance, networking, illness literacy and community support by outreach workers. They used assessment tools translated into the local language, and conducted focus groups and client training programs. 

As a result, mental healthcare was provided to clients from as many as 150 villages in South India. Currently the services are utilized on a regular basis by about 50 villages around the central project site. The current active caseload of registered clients is 1930.  Empowerment of treated clients is the final outcome, assisting them in self-employment. 

Rural mental healthcare must be culturally congruent, and must integrate primary care and local CHWs for success. Training, supervision, ongoing teaching of CHWs, on-site resident medical officers, research and outreach are essential to continued success over two decades.

 

Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development, [S.l.], v. 30, n. 2, p. 104-113, Oct. 2019

 

 

Postpartum Depression: Signs and Resources for Help

Nursing@Georgetown
July 2017

Expand view

This resource provides insights into the symptoms of postpartum depression and how to support a loved one with PPD. Also included in the article are insights on how to find providers and community groups that offer free resources. Readers can also learn what to do in crisis situations to ensure that important preventative measures are taken when needed.

Public health, research and rights: the perspectives of deliberation panels with politically and socially active disabled people

BERGHS, Maria
ATKIN, Karl
GRAHAM, Hilary
HATTON, Chris
THOMAS, Carol
2017

Expand view

Public health research purports to provide the evidence base for policies, programmes and interventions to improve the health of a population. However, there is increasing awareness that the experiences of disabled people have played little part in informing this evidence base. This paper discusses one aspect of a study commissioned by England’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to review the implications for public health of theories and models of disability. This part of the study focused on the development of a tool or decision aid to promote ethical inclusion of disabled people in public health randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and evaluative research. The tool was introduced at four regional ‘deliberating panels’ involving politically and socially active disabled people. In addition, we held a panel with public health professionals. The deliberation panels debated how the focus of public health was narrowing, why disability was excluded and positive and negative issues with using rights to guide research and evaluative practice. Politically active disabled people argued for a social model of human rights to guide any rights based tools or decision aids in public health and disability research.

Strengthening mental health system governance in six low- and middle-income countries in Africa and South Asia: challenges, needs and potential strategies

PETERSEN, Inge
et al
February 2017

Expand view

The aim of this study was to identify key governance issues that need to be addressed to facilitate the integration of mental health services into general health care in the six participating "Emerald" countries (Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda).  The study adopted a descriptive qualitative approach, using framework analysis. Purposive sampling was used to recruit a range of key informants, to ensure views were elicited on all the governance issues within the expanded framework. Key informants across the six countries included policy makers at the national level in the Department/Ministry of Health; provincial coordinators and planners in primary health care and mental health; and district-level managers of primary and mental health care services. A total of 141 key informants were interviewed across the six countries. Data were transcribed (and where necessary, translated into English) and analysed thematically using framework analysis, first at the country level, then synthesised at a cross-country level.

Disability & the Global South (DGS), 2017, Vol. 4 No. 1 - Special issue: Disability in the Sustainable Development Goals: Critical Reflections

2017

Expand view

Articles include:

  • Editorial: Disability and the SDGs: is the battle over?
  • Entering the SDG era: What do Fijians prioritise as indicators of disability-inclusive education?
  • SDGs, Inclusive Health and the path to Universal Health Coverage
  • No One Left Behind: A review of social protection and disability at the World Bank
  • The capacity of community-based participatory research in relation to disability and the SDGs
  • Measuring Disability and Inclusion in relation to the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development

The Use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health in Primary Care: Findings of Exploratory Implementation Throughout Life

PRINZIE, Peter
LEBEER, Jo
PRINZIE, Peter
2016

Expand view

Purpose:   The International Classification of Functioning (ICF) has found widespread acceptance since it was launched in 2001. Yet, little is known about its use in Primary Care. This paper aims to contribute to the dialogue about the practical use of the ICF by exploring how this framework constitutes a supplementary source to inform disability-related decision making in integrated Primary Care.

 

Method: The implementation process of the ICF in a Latin American Primary Care and Community-Based Rehabilitation setting is described and the ICF diagram is applied to a life story as an example of its current use. Participant observation, in-depth study of reports of team meetings and the review of clinical files are the main data collection methods. Data analysis is enabled by the combination of single-case study with theory testing, which facilitates the generation of hypotheses in this exploratory study.

 

Results: A valuable time component of the ICF may support continuity in Primary Care and the universal application of the ICF framework can promote comprehensiveness by integrating individual rehabilitation and collective disability prevention. A way to mitigate the perceived dominance of biomedical disease and deficiency thinking is proposed in order to encourage the biopsychosocial focus of Primary Care. Finally, the implementation of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) in the health condition domain of the ICF highlights the importance of social responsibility towards disability.

 

Conclusion: This study suggests that a creative implementation of the ICF during life course to everyone who uses universally accessible healthcare may strengthen the integrative functions of Primary Care, and may be at the heart of the information system of this essential part of the healthcare system. Further research on the complementary use of ICF and ICD-10 is suggested in order to support community-based multisectoral intervention which may be coordinated by Primary Care.

Improving Ghana’s mental healthcare through task-shifting-psychiatrists and health policy directors perceptions about government’s commitment and the role of community mental health workers

AGYAPONG, Vincent
et al
October 2016

Expand view

The aim of this study was to examine the perceptions of psychiatrists and health policy directors about the policy to expand mental health care delivery in Ghana through a system of task-shifting from psychiatrists to community mental health workers (CMHWs). A self-administered semi-structured questionnaire was developed and administered to 11 psychiatrists and 29 health policy directors. Key informant interviews were also held with five psychiatrists and four health policy directors. .

Globalization and Health (2016) 12:57

DOI 10.1186/s12992-016-0199-z

Strengthening community and primary health systems for tuberculosis. A consultation on childhood TB integration

UNICEF
2016

Expand view

An estimated one million children between the age of 0-14 fall ill with tuberculosis (TB) every year, over 67 million children are infected and might develop active disease at any time. In 2013, the WHO with key partners launched the Roadmap for Childhood TB, outlining ten key actions to improve outcomes for children affected by TB, including improved data, development of child-friendly tools for diagnosis and treatment, engagement of key stakeholders at all levels of the system, and the development of integrated family- and community-centred strategies to provide comprehensive and effective services at the community level. A consultation on childhood TB integration took place in New York on June 1 and 2, 2016 to stimulate further the dialogue. The meeting addressed 7 topics: perspectives on childhood TB; country discussions on integration; integrating childhood TB interventions into service delivery; an opportunity for TB risk assessment at the community level: TB/HIV adapted integrated community case management (iCCM); childhood TB integration at the national, district, and community level; and financing childhood TB integration 

Using participatory and creative methods to facilitate emancipatory research with people facing multiple disadvantage: a role for health and care professionals

KRAMER-ROY, Debbie
2015

Expand view

Participatory and creative research methods are a powerful tool for enabling active engagement in the research process of marginalised people. It can be par- ticularly hard for people living with multiple disadvantage, such as disabled peo- ple from ethnic minority backgrounds, to access research projects that are relevant to their lived experience. This article argues that creative and participa- tory methods facilitate the co-researchers’ engagement in the research process, which thus becomes more empowering. Exploring the congruence of these meth- ods with their professional ethos, health and care professionals can use their skills to develop them further. Both theory and practice examples are presented.

Positive practices in disability inclusion : "we all have a role" : the valuable contributions of persons with disabilities in community outreach

WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
September 2014

Expand view

The Women's Refugee Commission identified and documented positive practices for disability inclusion in community center and outreach programming, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners in Lebanon. This article discusses the inclusion of people with disabilities in the Refugee Outreach Volunteer (ROV) network. ROVs are refugees who volunteer to provide insight into protection priorities, identify community-based solutions and refer refugees in need of urgent support

Positive practices in disability inclusion : "socialize, not stigmatize" : including children with disabilities in child-friendly spaces

WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION
International Medical Corps (IMC)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
September 2014

Expand view

The Women's Refugee Commission identified and documented positive practices for disability inclusion in community center and outreach programming, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners in Lebanon. Child-friendly spaces are being established at community centers, in order to provide access to a safe environment where children can access psychological support, and health and education initiatives. This article discusses how International Medical Corps is approaching the inclusion of children with disabilities in these child friendly spaces

 

 

Positive practices in disability inclusion : "it starts with building trust" : from outreach to the community center

WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION
INTERSOS
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
September 2014

Expand view

The Women's Refugee Commission identified and documented positive practices for disability inclusion in community center and outreach programming, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners in Lebanon. This article discusses how INTERSOS have been using the expanding network of Refugee Outreach Volunteers (ROVs) and community centers to promote inclusion and access for people with disabilities and their families

Positive practices in disability inclusion : "taking a team approach" : overcoming barriers, starting with attitudes

WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION
Caritas Lebanon Migrants Center
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
September 2014

Expand view

The Women's Refugee Commission identified and documented positive practices for disability inclusion in community center and outreach programming, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners in Lebanon. This article discusses how a Caritas-supported Community Center has promoted the inclusion of people with disabilities through their approaches to encourage and facilitate participation in program activities

 

 

Costs and cost-effectiveness of training traditional birth attendants to reduce neonatal mortality in the Lufwanyama neonatal survival study (LUNESP)

SABIN, Lora L
et al
2012

Expand view

"The Lufwanyama Neonatal Survival Project ("LUNESP") was a cluster randomized, controlled trial that showed that training traditional birth attendants (TBAs) to perform interventions targeting birth asphyxia, hypothermia, and neonatal sepsis reduced all-cause neonatal mortality by 45%. This companion analysis was undertaken to analyze intervention costs and cost-effectiveness, and factors that might improve cost-effectiveness"
PLoS ONE 7(4)

Field based training for mental health workers, community workers, psychosocial workers and counselors : a participant-oriented approach

VAN DER VEER, Guus
FRANCIS, Felician Thayalara
July 2011

Expand view

"This article discusses the training of mental health workers whose basic job is with clients that have been seriously affected by armed conflict and/or natural disasters by using ‘helping through talking’, and who have had little education that is relevant to this work. It sums up the characteristics required of the workers, their learning needs, the messages that the training needs to convey, and the characteristics and potential contents of a tailor made, participants-oriented programme"
Intervention, Vol 9, Issue 2

Sub-Saharan Africa's mothers, newborns, and children : where and why do they die?

KINNEY, Mary V
et al
2010

Expand view

"The aim of this paper is to present the current situation in sub-Saharan Africa for mothers, newborns, and children under age 5 years—including the progress towards the MDGs for maternal and child health, why and where deaths occur, what known interventions can be employed to prevent these deaths, and current coverage of these interventions. All data used in this review are from the most recent UN databases, national household surveys, and peer-reviewed papers where appropriate, which are referenced accordingly"
PLoS Medicine, 7(6)

Packages of care for depression in low- and middle-income countries

PATEL, Vikram
SIMON, Gregory
CHOWDHARY, Neerja
KAAYA, Sylvia
ARAYA, Ricardo
October 2009

Expand view

This article focuses on the effective management of depression in low- and middle-income countries, reviewing the evidence on efficacy of treatments and delivery of interventions derived from those countries to the extent possible

Packages of care for epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries

MBUBA, Caroline K
NEWTON, Charles R
October 2009

Expand view

This article focuses on the management of epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries and recommends a package of care - a combination of interventions aimed at improving the recognition and management of conditions to achieve optimal outcomes - for epilepsy, that is sustainable

Pages

E-bulletin