New Uganda case study in PLOS Medicine’s series on global mental health practice
Today we publish another installment in the ongoing PLOS Medicine Series on Global Mental Health Practice, guest edited by Drs. Vikram Patel, Rachel Jenkins, and Crick Lund.
Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu from the University of Makerere and colleagues describe their public-private partnership (PPP) that worked to deliver low cost, evidence-based mental health care to traumatized populations in northern Uganda. The partners—the US-based Peter C. Alderman Foundation with a mission to “heal the emotional wounds of victims of terrorism and mass violence in post-conflict countries” and several Ugandan government institutions—initiated a PPP to leverage pooled resources, raising patient care to a level that neither of the partners could provide by working alone. The partnership also employed a systems approach to mental health care, wherein clinics could deliver uniform treatment that was locally adapted to each tribal culture. The authors report that over a 6-year period (2005–2011), the partners established five psycho-trauma centers and people attending the clinics increased from 300 in 2007 to over 3,000 by June 2012.
We continue to invite submissions to this series of Health in Action articles. Details can be found in our 2012 “call for papers” editorial: Putting Evidence into Practice: The PLOS Medicine Series on Global Mental Health Practice.
The full list of case studies published thus far in the Series, which represents an extraordinary and global look at how mental health interventions are being implemented to improve the care, well-being, and human rights of individuals around the world, is here:
Integrating Mental Health and Development: A Case Study of the BasicNeeds Model in Nepal
Developing a National Mental Health Policy: A Case Study from Uganda
Balancing Community and Hospital Care: A Case Study of Reforming Mental Health Services in Georgia