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. 2019 Nov-Dec;61(6):635-639.
doi: 10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_343_19.

Taluk Mental Health Program: The new kid on the block?

Narayana Manjunatha  1 , Channaveerachari Naveen Kumar  1 , Kalaivanan Rakesh Chander  1 , Kamaldeep Sadh  1 , Guru S Gowda  1 , B Vinay  1 , H N Shashidhara  1 , Rajani Parthasarathy  2 , Girish N Rao  3 , Suresh Bada Math  1 , Jagadisha Thirthalli  1
Affiliations

Taluk Mental Health Program: The new kid on the block?

Narayana Manjunatha et al. Indian J Psychiatry. 2019 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

This article highlights the platform and framework for the new public mental health initiative, the Taluk Mental Health Program (TMHP), rolled out by the Government of India, as part of the expansion of the District Mental Health Program. In this initial phase, TMHP has been approved for ten taluks of Karnataka state. In the authors' collective opinion, few of the initiatives in the country could be considered as foundations for conceptualizing the TMHP (a) research programs and projects in the community, (b) community intervention programs running in two taluks of Karnataka since the past one and a half decade (Thirthahalli and Turuvekere taluks of Karnataka), and the (c) Primary Care Psychiatry Program of National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences. The article briefly describes the above initiatives and ends with further suggestions to scale up TMHP.

Keywords: Community based interventions; Taluk Mental Health Program; community intervention programs; primary care psychiatry.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

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