Effective methods for knowledge transfer to strengthen mental health systems in low- and middle-income countries

Jose L Ayuso-Mateos¹, Maria Miret², Pilar Lopez-Garcia³, Atalay Alem⁴, Dan Chisholm⁵, Oye Gureje⁶, Charlotte Hanlon⁷, Mark Jordans⁸, Fred Kigozi⁹, Crick Lund¹⁰, Inge Petersen¹¹, Maya Semrau¹², Rahul Shidhaye¹³, Graham Thornicroft¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; and Hospital Universitario de La Princesa, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Princesa (IIS Princesa), Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Spain.
² Journalist, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.
³ Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Princesa (IIS Princesa); and Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Spain.
⁴ Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
⁵ Programme Manager for Mental Health, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark.
⁶ Professor of Psychiatry and Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health, Neurosciences and Substance Abuse, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ibadan, Nigeria; and Professor Extraordinary, Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
⁷ Reader, Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; and Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
⁸ Reader, Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.
⁹ Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital, Uganda.
¹⁰ Professor of Public Mental Health, Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa; and Professor of Global Mental Health and Development, Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.
¹¹ Research Director and Professor, Centre for Rural Health, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
¹² Research Fellow, Global Health and Infection Department, Brighton and Sussex Medical School; and Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.
¹³ Clinical Psychiatrist, Public Health Foundation of India; and CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
¹⁴ Professor of Community Psychiatry, Centre for Global Mental Health and Centre for Implementation Science, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.

PMID: 31530323
PMCID: PMC6688465
DOI: 10.1192/bjo.2019.50

Effective methods for knowledge transfer to strengthen mental health systems in low- and middle-income countries

Jose L Ayuso-Mateos et al. BJPsych Open. 2019.

. 2019 Aug 6;5(5):e72.

doi: 10.1192/bjo.2019.50.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; and Hospital Universitario de La Princesa, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Princesa (IIS Princesa), Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Spain.
² Journalist, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.
³ Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Princesa (IIS Princesa); and Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Spain.
⁴ Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
⁵ Programme Manager for Mental Health, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark.
⁶ Professor of Psychiatry and Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health, Neurosciences and Substance Abuse, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ibadan, Nigeria; and Professor Extraordinary, Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
⁷ Reader, Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; and Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
⁸ Reader, Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.
⁹ Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital, Uganda.
¹⁰ Professor of Public Mental Health, Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa; and Professor of Global Mental Health and Development, Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.
¹¹ Research Director and Professor, Centre for Rural Health, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
¹² Research Fellow, Global Health and Infection Department, Brighton and Sussex Medical School; and Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.
¹³ Clinical Psychiatrist, Public Health Foundation of India; and CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
¹⁴ Professor of Community Psychiatry, Centre for Global Mental Health and Centre for Implementation Science, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.

PMID: 31530323
PMCID: PMC6688465
DOI: 10.1192/bjo.2019.50

Erratum in

Effective methods for knowledge transfer to strengthen mental health systems in low- and middle-income countries - CORRIGENDUM.
Ayuso-Mateos JL, Miret M, Lopez-Garcia P, Alem A, Chisholm D, Gureje O, Hanlon C, Jordans M, Kigozi F, Lund C, Petersen I, Semrau M, Shidhaye R, Thornicroft G. Ayuso-Mateos JL, et al. BJPsych Open. 2021 Jul 9;7(4):e128. doi: 10.1192/bjo.2021.950. BJPsych Open. 2021. PMID: 34240692 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Abstract

Background: The Emerald project's focus is on how to strengthen mental health systems in six low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda). This was done by generating evidence and capacity to enhance health system performance in delivering mental healthcare.A common problem in scaling-up interventions and strengthening mental health programmes in LMICs is how to transfer research evidence, such as the data collected in the Emerald project, into practice.

Aims: To describe how core elements of Emerald were implemented and aligned with the ultimate goal of strengthening mental health systems, as well as their short-term impact on practices, policies and programmes in the six partner countries.

Method: We focused on the involvement of policy planners, managers, patients and carers.

Results: Over 5 years of collaboration, the Emerald consortium has provided evidence and tools for the improvement of mental healthcare in the six LMICs involved in the project. We found that the knowledge transfer efforts had an impact on mental health service delivery and policy planning at the sites and countries involved in the project.

Conclusions: This approach may be valid beyond the mental health context, and may be effective for any initiative that aims at implementing evidence-based health policies for health system strengthening.

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Figures

**Fig. 1**
Emerald's activities for knowledge generation and transfer to strengthen the low- and middle-income countries’ mental health systems.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Semrau M, Evans-Lacko S, Alem A, Ayuso-Mateos JL, Chisholm D, Gureje O, et al. Strengthening mental health systems in low- and middle-income countries: the Emerald programme. BMC Med 2015; 13: 79. - PMC - PubMed
1. World Health Organization. Q&As: Health systems. WHO, 2019. (https://www.who.int/topics/health_systems/qa/en/).
1. Broner N, Franczak M, Dye C, McAllister W. Knowledge transfer, policymaking and community empowerment: a consensus model approach for providing public mental health and substance abuse services. Psychiatr Q 2001; 72: 79–102. - PubMed
1. Thornicroft G, Lempp H, Tansella M. The place of implementation science in the translational medicine continuum. Psychol Med 2011; 41: 2015–21. - PubMed
1. Lempp H, Abayneh S, Gurung D, Kola L, Abdulmalik J, Evans-Lacko S, et al. Service user and caregiver involvement in mental health system strengthening in low- and middle-income countries: a cross-country qualitative study. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci 2018; 27: 29–39. - PMC - PubMed

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Effective methods for knowledge transfer to strengthen mental health systems in low- and middle-income countries

Affiliations

Effective methods for knowledge transfer to strengthen mental health systems in low- and middle-income countries

Authors

Affiliations

Erratum in

Abstract

Figures

References

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources