Community mental health teams in low- and middle-income countries

The dearth of trained mental health professionals and the huge gap in providing accessible services in many low- and middle-income countries have led to the identification of alternate providers of care in these countries. Community mental health teams seem to fill this lacuna in some of these places. This editorial addresses issues of the need for such teams, their composition, responsibilities and limitations. With adequate training, these teams are able to carry out a broad array of tasks such a case identification, referrals, elementary counselling, family support and psychosocial interventions. While these teams are generally found to be enthusiastic, they require periodic monitoring and support with which they can well be a critical element of the mental health care team.