Department of Health Service and Population Research, King's College London, London, UK.
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2023 Dec;58(12):1761-1771. doi: 10.1007/s00127-021-02061-5. Epub 2021 Mar 25.
Despite the World Health Organization and United Nations recognising violence, abuse and mental health as public health priorities, their intersection is under-studied in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). International violence, abuse and mental health network (iVAMHN) members recognised the need to identify barriers and priorities to develop this field.
Informed by collaborative discussion between iVAMHN members, we conducted a pilot study using an online survey to identify research, education and capacity building priorities for violence, abuse and mental health in LMICs. We analysed free-text responses using thematic analysis.
35 senior (29%) and junior researchers (29%), non-government or voluntary sector staff (18%), health workers (11%), students (11%) and administrators (3%) completed the survey. Respondents worked in 24 LMICs, with 20% working in more than one country. Seventy-four percent of respondents worked in sub-Saharan Africa, 37% in Asia and smaller proportions in Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Respondents described training, human resource, funding and sensitivity-related barriers to researching violence, abuse and mental health in LMICs and recommended a range of actions to build capacity, streamline research pathways, increase efficiency and foster collaborations and co-production.
The intersection between violence, abuse and mental health in LMICs is a priority for individuals with a range of expertise across health, social care and the voluntary sector. There is interest in and support for building a strong network of parties engaged in research, service evaluation, training and education in this field. Networks like iVAMHN can act as hubs, bringing together diverse stakeholders for collaboration, co-production and mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and skills.
尽管世界卫生组织和联合国已将暴力、虐待和精神健康问题确认为公共卫生重点，但在中低收入国家（LMICs），这些问题之间的交集仍研究不足。国际暴力、虐待和精神健康网络（iVAMHN）的成员认识到需要确定障碍和优先事项，以发展这一领域。
根据 iVAMHN 成员之间的合作讨论，我们使用在线调查进行了一项试点研究，以确定 LMICs 中暴力、虐待和精神健康领域的研究、教育和能力建设优先事项。我们使用主题分析对自由文本回复进行了分析。
35 名高级（29%）和初级研究人员（29%）、非政府或志愿部门工作人员（18%）、卫生工作者（11%）、学生（11%）和管理人员（3%）完成了调查。受访者在 24 个 LMIC 工作，其中 20%在一个以上国家工作。74%的受访者在撒哈拉以南非洲工作，37%在亚洲，拉丁美洲、东欧和中东的比例较小。受访者描述了在 LMIC 研究暴力、虐待和精神健康方面的培训、人力资源、资金和敏感性相关障碍，并建议采取一系列行动来建立能力、简化研究途径、提高效率、促进合作和共同制定。
在 LMICs 中，暴力、虐待和精神健康之间的交集是具有健康、社会关怀和志愿部门各种专业知识的个人的优先事项。人们对在这一领域开展研究、服务评估、培训和教育的各方建立一个强大的网络表示有兴趣和支持。像 iVAMHN 这样的网络可以充当枢纽，将不同的利益相关者聚集在一起，进行合作、共同制定和互利的知识和技能交流。
