Mental Health Prevention and Promotion—A Narrative Review

Extant literature has established the effectiveness of various mental health promotion and prevention strategies, including novel interventions. However, comprehensive literature encompassing all these aspects and challenges and opportunities in implementing such interventions in different settings is still lacking. Therefore, in the current review, we aimed to synthesize existing literature on various mental health promotion and prevention interventions and their effectiveness. Additionally, we intend to highlight various novel approaches to mental health care and their implications across different resource settings and provide future directions. The review highlights the (1) concept of preventive psychiatry, including various mental health promotions and prevention approaches, (2) current level of evidence of various mental health preventive interventions, including the novel interventions, and (3) challenges and opportunities in implementing concepts of preventive psychiatry and related interventions across the settings. Although preventive psychiatry is a well-known concept, it is a poorly utilized public health strategy to address the population's mental health needs. It has wide-ranging implications for the wellbeing of society and individuals, including those suffering from chronic medical problems. The researchers and policymakers are increasingly realizing the potential of preventive psychiatry; however, its implementation is poor in low-resource settings. Utilizing novel interventions, such as mobile-and-internet-based interventions and blended and stepped-care models of care can address the vast mental health need of the population. Additionally, it provides mental health services in a less-stigmatizing and easily accessible, and flexible manner. Furthermore, employing decision support systems/algorithms for patient management and personalized care and utilizing the digital platform for the non-specialists' training in mental health care are valuable additions to the existing mental health support system. However, more research concerning this is required worldwide, especially in the low-and-middle-income countries

Comparative survey of factors associated with illness-related knowledge among patients with severe mental illness and their caregivers

Background: Knowledge about the illness and treatment is important for treatment adherence and positive outcomes in patients with severe mental illnesses (SMIs) and their caregivers. The current study aimed at comparing the knowledge of the patients with SMI and their caregivers, and its relationship with their sociodemographic characteristics. Methodology: A cross-sectional, observational study conducted in the outpatient department of a tertiary care general hospital and comprised 50 dyads of patients with SMIs and their caregivers. Information was collected by a semi-structured questionnaire. Comparison of knowledge between groups was performed using the Chi-square test, and the relationship of knowledge with their sociodemographic variables was analyzed using logistic regression test. Results: There was a lack of knowledge among participating dyads for most of the illness- and treatment-related variables. A significant difference was observed between the two groups in regard to their knowledge about the name of the illness, how medical comorbidity and comorbid substance use affect psychiatric illness, brand name of the medicine, adverse effect, duration of treatment, role of investigation in diagnosis and treatment, and psychosocial rehabilitation (P < 0.001). The difference in knowledge was also observed regarding the formulation of medicine other than tablets and mechanism of its action (P < 0.05). Dyads with higher socioeconomic status had more knowledge about some but not all aspects of their illness. Conclusion: The patients and their caregivers lacked knowledge about many important illnesses-related variables. It is important to psychoeducate in routine clinical practice

Development of Hindi-Translated Version of the Female Sexual Function Index for Evaluating Sexual Dysfunctions among Individuals with Anxiety, Depression, and Other Common Mental Health Conditions: Experiential Account and Preliminary Findings from India

Sexual dysfunctions are common among females with common mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression. However, discussion on this topic remains taboo in many cultures, including India. Worldwide, the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) is the most used tool to evaluate sexual functioning in females. Researchers across the globe attempted to translate and validate this scale in native languages (e.g., Japanese and Spanish); however, such translations are not available in Hindi. Strikingly, although there is literature informing us about the regional validation process of this scale, little has been discussed about qualitative nuances of the process of translation, the expert panel discussion, and cognitive interviewing during pilot testing. The lack of such procedural qualitative data limits the replicability of such translations in different cultures; furthermore, it can adversely influence the parameters of the validation study. Hence, the current study was conducted to highlight the process of Hindi translation of the FSFI and illustrate the challenges faced at various stages of translation and testing. The study was conducted in the multidisciplinary hospital of Central India by involving five translators, five expert panel discussants, and 15 patients with common mental health conditions or their caregivers. The significant findings of the current work include the requirement of semantic and grammatical changes and rephrasing of the sentences for improving comprehensibility and applicability in the Indian population (during the panel discussion). Additionally, it informed us to use alternate or more than one word to capture a concept, including English words written in Hindi (during preliminary pilot testing). Critical roadblocks were inadequate awareness of the issues, lack of typical/comprehensive terminologies to capture the ideas, and significant stigma attached to the subject

Shifting towards online training-Possible challenges from Educators/Trainers perspective in Indian setting

Worldwide metastasis of novel coronavirus COVID-19 has caused immense alterations among every walk of human existence and social interaction(1). Education and training sector being as vulnerable to these adjustments as any other domain(2). Owing to its extremely infectious nature, the COVID-19 pandemic enforced the closure of training institutes globally. All the traditional classroom training were restricted as an instant consequence, to achieve the norms of social distancing which can perhaps aid in obliterating the infection curve and lessen the resultant fatalities(3). Educational institutions in India predominantly bank on traditional methods of training, utilizing conventional setup of in-person training and lectures in a teaching space. While over the years, there is a marked shift towards blended learning, still most of the academic institutes are guided by the existing orthodox learning methodologies. An unexpected outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic caused by Corona Virus (SARS-CoV-2) shuddered the entire world (4). This complete shutdown kind of circumstances has tested the education system globally and coerced the educators to shift to digital platforms and online modules almost instantaneously. Academic institutions were required to shift from their traditional pedagogical approach to online teaching-learning. The article recognises the possible barriers to swiftly shift from traditional methods of learning towards e-learning among adult professionals through analysing the limitations faced by the authors while converting and conducting traditional trainings into e-trainings at The National Cold Chain and Vaccine Management Resource Centre (NCCVMRC-NIHFW), New Delhi. This article also put some light on methodologies that could assist academic institutions in dealing with challenges associated with shifting towards e-learning

Synergies between centralized and federated approaches to data quality: a report from the national COVID cohort collaborative

Objective In response to COVID-19, the informatics community united to aggregate as much clinical data as possible to characterize this new disease and reduce its impact through collaborative analytics. The National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) is now the largest publicly available HIPAA limited dataset in US history with over 6.4 million patients and is a testament to a partnership of over 100 organizations. Materials and Methods We developed a pipeline for ingesting, harmonizing, and centralizing data from 56 contributing data partners using 4 federated Common Data Models. N3C data quality (DQ) review involves both automated and manual procedures. In the process, several DQ heuristics were discovered in our centralized context, both within the pipeline and during downstream project-based analysis. Feedback to the sites led to many local and centralized DQ improvements. Results Beyond well-recognized DQ findings, we discovered 15 heuristics relating to source Common Data Model conformance, demographics, COVID tests, conditions, encounters, measurements, observations, coding completeness, and fitness for use. Of 56 sites, 37 sites (66%) demonstrated issues through these heuristics. These 37 sites demonstrated improvement after receiving feedback. Discussion We encountered site-to-site differences in DQ which would have been challenging to discover using federated checks alone. We have demonstrated that centralized DQ benchmarking reveals unique opportunities for DQ improvement that will support improved research analytics locally and in aggregate. Conclusion By combining rapid, continual assessment of DQ with a large volume of multisite data, it is possible to support more nuanced scientific questions with the scale and rigor that they require