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. 2020 Aug 3:29:e150.
doi: 10.1017/S204579602000061X.

Promotion, prevention and treatment interventions for mental health in low- and middle-income countries through a task-shifting approach

Marianna Purgato  1   2 , Eleonora Uphoff  3 , Rakesh Singh  4   5 , Ambika Thapa Pachya  4   5 , Jibril Abdulmalik  6 , Nadja van Ginneken  7
Affiliations

Promotion, prevention and treatment interventions for mental health in low- and middle-income countries through a task-shifting approach

Marianna Purgato et al. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. .

Abstract

Recently, mental health and ill health have been reframed to be seen as a continuum from health to ill health, through the stages of being asymptomatic 'at risk', to experiencing 'mental distress', 'sub-syndromal symptoms' and finally 'mental disorders'. This new conceptualisation emphasised the importance of mental health promotion and prevention interventions, aimed at reducing the likelihood of future disorders with the general population or with people who are identified as being at risk of a disorder. This concept generated discussion on the distinction between prevention and treatment interventions, especially for those mental health conditions which lie between psychological distress and a formal psychiatric diagnosis. The present editorial aims to clarify the definition of promotion, prevention and treatment interventions delivered through a task-shifting approach according to a global mental health perspective.

Keywords: Low- and middle-income countries; prevention; primary mental health care; promotion; public mental health; task-shifting; treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Examples of interventions according to the continuum from mental health to ill health (adapted from Patel et al., 2018).
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Definitions of workers involved in the task-shifting approach.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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