The Mental Health Country Profile: background, design and use of a systematic method of appraisal

Abstract

This article describes the construction and use of a systematic structured method of mental health country situation appraisal, in order to help meet the need for conceptual tools to assist planners and policy makers develop and audit policy and implementation strategies. The tool encompasses the key domains of context, needs, resources, provisions and outcomes, and provides a framework for synthesizing key qualitative and quantitative information, flagging up gaps in knowledge, and for reviewing existing policies. It serves as an enabling tool to alert and inform policy makers, professionals and other key stakeholders about important issues which need to be considered in mental health policy development. It provides detailed country specific information in a systematic format, to facilitate global sharing of experiences of mental health reform and strategies between policy makers and other stakeholders. Lastly, it is designed to be a capacity building tool for local stakeholders to enhance situation appraisal, and multisectorial policy development and implementation.

Mental health reform in the Russian Federation: an integrated approach to achieve social inclusion and recovery

“…In stage two, we undertook a rapid situational assessment, an approach tailored from previous similar work in mental health (for example, see www.mental-neurological-health.net) and communicable diseases, [28][29][30][31] which included site visits, discussions with key stakeholders and key informant interviews to explore contextual and health system barriers to change and care delivery, especially those factors which hindered intersectoral approaches and the engagement of users and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the planning and delivery of care. These were augmented by focus groups, direct observation of clinical practice, and further examination of documents and routine data.…”

The appropriateness and use of focus group methodology across international mental health communities

“…Participants were selected by a site coordinator, who was in turn recruited by the Consortium's coordinator for the region ( Jenkins et al, 2003).…”

“…Right from the start, it became clear that no single person had all the necessary expertise and experience to collect all the qualitative and quantitative data required to complete the Mental health country profile (Jenkins et al, 2003). Information was needed from a sample of each country's population that represented its mental health community.…”

Mental health priorities in Vietnam: a mixed-methods analysis

“…The Mental Health Country Profile is a tool for formative evaluation of the mental health situation in a country, and was generated by the International Mental Health Policy and Services Project to inform key stakeholders about important issues which need to be considered in mental health policy development [5]. The concept of a Mental Health Country Profile is similar to that of situation analysis in public health, where population needs and demands, existing services and current resources are assessed with the goal of change and improvement.…”

“…The concept of a Mental Health Country Profile is similar to that of situation analysis in public health, where population needs and demands, existing services and current resources are assessed with the goal of change and improvement. This is particularly useful in countries which lack routine information collection, as the aim is to bring forth information and expertise which already exists in a country, but is often relatively inaccessible [5]. …”