Mental Health Orientation for Self-Help Group Members: A Feasibility Study

Area of Science:

• Global Mental Health
• Health Workforce Development
• Psychological Interventions

Background:

• Significant treatment gap in mental health care in low- and middle-income countries.
• Essential need to build local mental health workforce capacity.
• This study is a preliminary step towards addressing the gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and impact of a Mental Health Orientation (MHO) program.
• To evaluate changes in self-help group members' orientation towards mental illness.
• To provide a foundation for scalable mental health interventions.

Main Methods:

• Single group pre- and post-test design.
• Intervention: 2-day Mental Health Orientation (MHO) program.
• Assessment using Orientation Towards Mental Illness (OMI) scale at baseline, post-intervention, and 6-week follow-up.

Main Results:

• Statistically significant improvements in all domains of the OMI scale post-intervention.
• Significant changes observed in perceptions of causation, abnormality, treatment, and after-effects of mental illness.
• No significant differences between post-intervention and follow-up scores for causation and treatment domains.

Conclusions:

• A brief MHO program can positively alter participants' orientation towards mental illness.
• The positive effects of the MHO program require periodic reinforcement.
• Findings support the potential of brief, locally-resourced programs to address mental health literacy.