Background:Development of a manual or well-defined criterion for prioritizing the topics of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) will help validate and organize this process evermore. This study was conducted to design an applicable manual that would prioritize the CPG topics for family physicians.Methods:This study was a multi-stage method using a qualitative approach that was conducted for the manual developing. The manual development process took place in four steps, as follows: Literature review, interviews with ten experts, preparing a list of criteria and determining its appropriateness by applying the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness method, and development of the final draft of the manual and pilot study.Results:Interview transcripts went under content analysis and were classified into eight main groups, 12 subgroups, and 85 themes. A comprehensive list consisting of fifty preliminary criteria were extracted. After summarizing and classifying the criteria, 12 appropriate criteria were evaluated using the RAND appropriateness method. Eventually, based on the literature review and our own results of the interview analysis, a manual consisting of five main sections and one clause on ethics was developed. Later, a pilot study was conducted on ten family physician topics, and prioritized by nine experts.Conclusions:The manual can be eyed as a tool ensuring the quality of the process of prioritizing CPG topics for family physicians, as it takes into account the issues involved in priority-setting. Selecting informed stakeholders for rating the criteria and ranking the topics was an issue that was greatly emphasized by the experts. Eventually, the application of this manual can be the first step toward systematizing the process of prioritizing CPG topics in the country.

Background: Recognizing the mental health literacy condition among the people is an important step towards promotion of mental health of a society. This study has been conducted to evaluate the depression literacy among Tehran city and its suburban residents. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 18- to 68-year-old residents in Tehran city and suburb in 2017. Sampling in Tehran city was conducted using Random Digit Dialing (RDD) and 1340 people were recruited. In suburb Shamsabad and Salehabad from south of Tehran were considered as clusters and data gathering conducted by face to face interview. Depression literacy was assessed by a structured questionnaire. After introducing a vignette with a psychiatric disorder, participants were questioned in the domains of recognition of the disorder, intention to seek help and attitudes toward social stigma. Results: Correct recognition was 52.2% and 30% and intention to seek help was 54% and 33.3% in Tehran city and suburb, respectively. Female gender ( P < 0.001), age increasing ( P = 0.002) and higher education ( P < 0.001) significantly scaled up the chance of correct recognition of depression, when female gender ( P = 0.001), increasing age ( P < 0.001), and being married ( P = 0.01) could significantly improve the probability of seeking help. Results also showed that being married ( P = 0.005) and higher education ( P < 0.001) predicted lower stigma. Conclusions: Overall depression literacy in Tehran city and suburb was low, so intervention among target population in order to increase the depression literacy seems to be necessary.

Background The spread and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic have been to such an extent that to shape an effective, collective response, governments need the participation of society and the cooperation of a wide range of civil society organizations and institutions. The objective of this study was to identify the activities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in response to the covid-19 pandemic in Iran and the challenges they confronted. Methods We conducted a qualitative analysis based on twenty-two individual, virtual, and semi-structured interviews. Interviewees were selected through purposeful and snowball sampling. All interviews were performed with active health-related NGO representatives willing to participate in the study and continued until data saturation. Data analysis was performed using qualitative content analysis. Results The activities and challenges raised by NGO representatives were identified in 6 main categories, including the need for the participation of NGOs in the fight against pandemics, response to the COVID-19 crisis in the society, challenges in providing services to the target group in the COVID-19 crisis, NGOs challenges in interacting with governmental and non-governmental institutions, information sources used by NGOs in the COVID-19 crisis and strategies to support NGOs in their efforts. Conclusion Considering the crucial challenges for their participation, such as the NGO access to the target groups, lack of communication network, and constructive interaction between government institutions and the NGOs, it is recommended to increase the capacity of these institutions and intervene to establish a constructive and long-term relationship with the government.

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