AbstractSince the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy, the issue of strict adherence has become increasingly important. This chapter examines how the mental health provider can employ a multimodal approach to promoting patient adherence, which increases the chances of success.
In: Social work in health care: the journal of health care social work ; a quarterly journal adopted by the Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care, Band 42, Heft 3-4, S. 167-188
In: Social work in health care: the journal of health care social work ; a quarterly journal adopted by the Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care, Band 42, Heft 3-4, S. 209-224
AbstractNew information about the life cycle of HIV, new HIV‐specific laboratory tests, and newer antiretroviral medications have transformed the management of HIV illness. Knowledge about these changes will help mental health providers better understand the latest medical issues affecting their HIV‐infected patients, which will assist them in providing better care.
In this Fresh Focus, we reassess what the mental health treatment gap may mean if we consider the role of traditional healing. Based on systematic reviews, patients can use traditional healers and qualitatively report improvement from general psychological distress and symptom reduction for common mental disorders. Given these clinical implications, some high-income countries have scaled up research into traditional healing practices, while at the same time in low-and middle-income countries, where the use of traditional healers is nearly ubiquitous, considerably less research funding has studied or capitalized on this phenomena. The World Health Organization 2003–2020 Mental Health Action Plan called for government health programs to include traditional and faith healers as treatment resources to combat the low- and middle-income country treatment gap. Reflection on the work which emerged during the course of this Mental Health Action Plan revealed areas for improvement. As we embark on the next Mental Health Action Plan, we offer lessons-learned for exploring potential relationships and collaborations between traditional healing and biomedicine.
Peru secured a legislative advance for mental health care with a 2012 law mandating that mental health services be available in primary care. One of the main challenges faced by this reform is implementing such services in remote regions. This column describes a pilot project in Peru enacted in 2010-2014 to develop capacity for mental health services in primary care in one of the most isolated and high-needs regions of the country. The authors describe training and supervision based on accompaniment, and comprehensive and engaged regional partnerships, as key aspects of the potential impact and sustainability of the service expansion.
Background: Mozambique has gradually changed its action on mental health (MH) from an asylum-centric care with long-term hospitalization to an innovative approach to community and primary care. Objective: To collect essential information on Mozambique's MH system for decision making, to improve quality of services delivered, update MH Strategy and Action Plan. Method: The study used the WHO-AIMS to assess MH systems including policy and legislation, organization of services, MH in primary care, human resources, public education and link with other sectors, monitoring and research. A comparative analysis was conducted to present the evolution of relevant data from 2010 to 2014. Results: There are two psychiatric hospitals in the country and beds in general hospitals. In the period, the number of beds in general hospitals remained stable (203), and the beds in psychiatric hospitals increased from 173 to 298. Mental health outpatient facilities have increased from 83 to 152. The number of psychiatrists (9 in 2010, and 10 in 2014) remained very low, with a significant increase in the number of psychologists (56-109) and occupational therapists (2-23). The number of Psychiatric Technicians has increased from 66 in 2010, to 241 in 2014. This increase allowed the mental health network to expand from 60 to 135 Districts, meaning an increase of coverage from 44 to 100% of the country districts. Conclusion: The task-shifting strategy focused on services delivered in primary care by psychiatric technicians, mid-level professionals, allowed the expansion of mental health services for all the country districts and the reduction of treatment gap in Mozambique. ; publishersversion ; published
Abstract Background Armed conflict and the HIV pandemic are significant global health issues. Evidence of the association between armed conflict and HIV infection has been conflicting. Our objective was to examine the role of mediating risk factors, such as engagement in transactional sex work, to elucidate the relation between armed conflict and HIV infection.
Methods We used multistage sampling across three Northeastern Ugandan districts to randomly select 605 women aged 13 to 49 to answer cross-sectional surveys from January to May of 2016. We used multivariate logistic regression model with R 4.0.3 to examine if exposure to armed conflict has an indirect effect on reporting having an HIV-positive serostatus through engagement in transactional sex work. Age and district residence were included as covariates.
Results Exposure to armed conflict β = .16, SE = .04, p < .05, OR = 1.17, 95% [CI .08, .23] was significantly associated with reporting a HIV-positive serostatus. For each 1-unit increase in exposure to armed conflict (i.e., additional type of armed conflict exposure), there was a 17% increase in the odds of reporting a HIV-positive serostatus. Engagement in transactional sex work was not associated with reporting a HIV-positive serostatus β = .04, SE = .05, p = .37, 95% [CI − .051, .138]. We found district of residence, age, and interaction effects.
Conclusions Although exposure to armed was associated with reporting an HIV-positive serostatus, this relationship was not mediated by engagement in transactional sex. Further research is needed on risk factors that mediate this relationship. The likelihood of reporting a HIV-positive serostatus increased with each additional type of exposure to armed conflict. Thus, screening for exposure to multiple traumatic stressors should occur in HIV prevention settings. Healthcare services that are trauma-informed and consider mental distress would likely improve HIV outcomes.
Background: Mozambique has gradually changed its action on mental health (MH) from an asylum-centric care with long-term hospitalization to an innovative approach to community and primary care. Objective: To collect essential information on Mozambique's MH system for decision making, to improve quality of services delivered, update MH Strategy and Action Plan. Method: The study used the WHO-AIMS to assess MH systems including policy and legislation, organization of services, MH in primary care, human resources, public education and link with other sectors, monitoring and research. A comparative analysis was conducted to present the evolution of relevant data from 2010 to 2014. Results: There are two psychiatric hospitals in the country and beds in general hospitals. In the period, the number of beds in general hospitals remained stable (203), and the beds in psychiatric hospitals increased from 173 to 298. Mental health outpatient facilities have increased from 83 to 152. The number of psychiatrists (9 in 2010, and 10 in 2014) remained very low, with a significant increase in the number of psychologists (56-109) and occupational therapists (2-23). The number of Psychiatric Technicians has increased from 66 in 2010, to 241 in 2014. This increase allowed the mental health network to expand from 60 to 135 Districts, meaning an increase of coverage from 44 to 100 % of the country districts. Conclusion: The task-shifting strategy focused on services delivered in primary care by psychiatric technicians, mid-level professionals, allowed the expansion of mental health services for all the country districts and the reduction of treatment gap in Mozambique. ; WHO ; Ministry of Health of Mozambique ; NIMH-Fogarty grant [D43TW009675] ; New York State Psychiatric Institute-Columbia University Department of Psychiatry ; Eduardo Mondlane University Medical School ; Federal University of Sao Paulo, Psychiatry Department ; Mental Health Department, Center for Applied Psychology and Psychometric Tests, Ministry of Health, Rua de Nachingwea No 486, Maputo, Mozambique ; New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, New York, USA ; Lisbon Institute of Global Mental Health, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal ; Lisbon Institute of Global Mental Health, Lisbon, Portugal ; Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil ; Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil ; NIMH-Fogarty: D43TW009675 ; Web of Science