Open AccessIntegrating evidence‐based treatments for common mental disorders in routine primary care: feasibility and acceptability of the MANAS intervention in Goa, India
Author(s) -
CHATTERJEE SUDIPTO,
CHOWDHARY NEERJA,
PEDNEKAR SULOCHANA,
COHEN ALEX,
ANDREW GRACY,
ANDREW GRACY,
ARAYA RICARDO,
SIMON GREGORY,
KING MICHAEL,
TELLES SHIRLEY,
VERDELI HELENA,
CLOUGHERTY KATHLEEN,
KIRKWOOD BETTY,
PATEL VIKRAM
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
world psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 15.51
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 2051-5545
pISSN - 1723-8617
DOI - 10.1002/j.2051-5545.2008.tb00151.x
Subject(s) - medicine , psychological intervention , intervention (counseling) , formative assessment , mental health , anxiety , public health , evidence based practice , systematic review , alternative medicine , nursing , psychiatry , medline , psychology , pedagogy , pathology , political science , law
Common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, pose a major public health burden in developing countries. Although these disorders are thought to be best managed in primary care settings, there is a dearth of evidence about how this can be achieved in low resource settings. The MANAS project is an attempt to integrate an evidence based package of treatments into routine public and private primary care settings in Goa, India. Before initiating the trial, we carried out extensive preparatory work, over a period of 15 months, to examine the feasibility and acceptability of the planned intervention. This paper describes the systematic development and evaluation of the intervention through this preparatory phase. The preparatory stage, which was implemented in three phases, utilized quantitative and qualitative methods to inform our understanding of the potential problems and possible solutions in implementing the trial and led to critical modifications of the original intervention plan. Investing in systematic formative work prior to conducting expensive trials of the effectiveness of complex interventions is a useful exercise which potentially improves the likelihood of a positive result of such trials.