Meeting the mental health needs of developing countries: NGO innovations in India

(from the cover) Mental disorders are among the most common and most disabling health problems worldwide. In most developing countries, however, mental disorders are an area of public health which have been neglected. Voluntary agencies have stepped in to play an important role in developing innovative models of mental health care for under-served populations. However, in many developing countries, such alternative NGO models of mental health care have rarely been documented. This volume fills this gap by describing the work of voluntary agencies in the field of mental health with the explicit objectives of documenting innovative achievements, examining the issues involved, and determining their success and viability in the Indian setting. It brings together 17 NGOs from various regions of the country who, between them, have dealt with a wide range of mental health and allied issues from severe mental disorders, autism, hyperactivity in children, and substance abuse, to trauma and violence, suicide prevention, and Alzheimer's disease in the elderly. This book may be used as supplementary reading for post-graduate courses in social work and clinical psychology, and may be of interest to psychiatrists, social workers, public health organizations, voluntary agencies and public health professionals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2003 APA, all rights reserved)