Mary Kapanee Aruna Rose, Meena K S, Nattala Prasanthi, Manjunatha Narayana, Sudhir Paulomi M
Department of Clinical Psychology, M. V. Govindaswamy Center, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Department of Mental Health Education, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Indian J Psychol Med. 2018 Jan-Feb;40(1):11-16. doi: 10.4103/IJPSYM.IJPSYM_114_17.
Depression is a significant public health concern in India, associated with a large treatment gap. Assessing perceptions of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) on depression can be invaluable as they are selected to work at the interface between their own communities and the health-care delivery system.
This study aimed at utilizing a qualitative approach to examine the ASHAs' understanding of depression, their mental health-care practices specific to depression, and their capacity-building needs with regard to identification and helping persons with depression.
A cross-sectional qualitative study using two focus group discussions was conducted. The sample comprised 14 ASHAs in the age range of 25-45 years from Bengaluru urban district. The data were analyzed manually by the method of directed content analysis.
The ASHAs were found to have inadequate knowledge of the signs and symptoms of depression, its biopsychosocial nature, and its impact on functioning. Causation of depression was narrated in terms of psychosocial stressors. The majority expressed the need for primarily psychosocial interventions for depression. All participants reported their motivation to obtain training in identifying persons with depression and providing simple psychosocial intervention for them.
This study indicates that ASHAs have poor knowledge of depression, which could be leading to its low recognition and treatment in the communities they work in. They are therefore likely to benefit from capacity building on depression which includes familiar nomenclature, biopsychosocial elucidation of the illness, life-span approach, understanding of its impact on various domains of functioning, and the treatments available.
抑郁症是印度一个重大的公共卫生问题，与之相关的治疗缺口很大。评估经认证的社会健康活动家（ASHAs）对抑郁症的看法可能非常有价值，因为他们被挑选出来在自己的社区与医疗保健系统之间的界面开展工作。
本研究旨在采用定性方法，考察ASHAs对抑郁症的理解、他们针对抑郁症的心理健康护理实践，以及他们在识别和帮助抑郁症患者方面的能力建设需求。
采用两次焦点小组讨论进行横断面定性研究。样本包括来自班加罗尔市区的14名年龄在25 - 45岁之间的ASHAs。通过定向内容分析法对数据进行人工分析。
发现ASHAs对抑郁症的体征和症状、其生物心理社会性质及其对功能的影响了解不足。抑郁症的病因是根据心理社会压力源来描述的。大多数人表示抑郁症主要需要心理社会干预。所有参与者都表示有动力接受培训，以识别抑郁症患者并为他们提供简单的心理社会干预。
本研究表明，ASHAs对抑郁症的了解不足，这可能导致他们在工作的社区中对抑郁症的识别率和治疗率较低。因此，他们可能会从抑郁症方面的能力建设中受益，这包括熟悉的术语、对该疾病生物心理社会层面的阐释、全生命周期方法、了解其对各个功能领域的影响以及可用的治疗方法。
