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Mental health is a state of well-being in which a person is able to:
Mental health is an inseparable part of general health. It is essential to the well-being and functioning of individuals, families, communities and societies.
Learn about how CBR involved the local communities in India to improve the access, equity, and acceptability of mental health services.
In a very disadvantaged part of rural India, Chatterjee and co-workers adapted the principles of CBR to complement the specialist mental health services and thus improve access, equity and acceptability of the interventions. Specifically, they focused on using local resources and involving of people with mental health problems, families and local communities.
Local members of the community were trained as CBR workers to deliver comprehensive home-based services, including:
Chatterjee and co-workers made concerted efforts to promote awareness, address stigma and facilitate economic and social rehabilitation. In most villages, families of people with mental health problems and other concerned members also formed self-help groups to promote the social and economic reintegration of local members with severe mental disorders.
The clinical and disability related outcomes for clients within the CBR were better than those of clients who received outpatient care alone. This approach to service delivery had several unique foci:
The success of CBR has prompted the health committee of the district government, in partnership with a non-governmental organization, to include mental health services in its planning and budgeting exercise. They also plan to scale up the programmes to the entire district.
