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Developing a mental health care plan in a low resource setting: the theory of change approach

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Health Services Research, September 2015
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3 X users

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36 Dimensions

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244 Mendeley
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Title
Developing a mental health care plan in a low resource setting: the theory of change approach
Published in
BMC Health Services Research, September 2015
DOI 10.1186/s12913-015-1097-4
Pubmed ID
Authors

Maji Hailemariam, Abebaw Fekadu, Medhin Selamu, Atalay Alem, Girmay Medhin, Tedla Wolde Giorgis, Mary DeSilva, Erica Breuer

Abstract

Scaling up mental healthcare through integration into primary care remains the main strategy to address the extensive unmet mental health need in low-income countries. For integrated care to achieve its goal, a clear understanding of the organisational processes that can promote and hinder the integration and delivery of mental health care is essential. Theory of Change (ToC), a method employed in the planning, implementation and evaluation of complex community initiatives, is an innovative approach that has the potential to assist in the development of a comprehensive mental health care plan (MHCP), which can inform the delivery of integrated care. We used the ToC approach to develop a MHCP in a rural district in Ethiopia. The work was part of a cross-country study, the Programme for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME) which focuses on developing evidence on the integration of mental health in to primary care. An iterative ToC development process was undertaken involving multiple workshops with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds that included representatives from the community, faith and traditional healers, community associations, non-governmental organisations, Zonal, Regional and Federal level government offices, higher education institutions, social work and mental health specialists (psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses). The objective of this study is to report the process of implementing the ToC approach in developing mental health care plan. A total of 46 persons participated in four ToC workshops. Four critical path dimensions were identified: community, health facility, administrative and higher level care organisation. The ToC participants were actively engaged in the process and the ToC encouraged strong commitment among participants. Key opportunities and barriers to implementation and how to overcome these were suggested. During the workshops, a map incorporating the key agreed outcomes and outcome indicators was developed and finalized later. The ToC approach was found to be an important component in the development of the MHCP and to encourage broad political support for the integration of mental health services into primary care. The method may have broader applicability in planning complex health interventions in low resource settings.

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The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 3 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 244 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Sierra Leone 1 <1%
Brazil 1 <1%
Unknown 242 99%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 47 19%
Researcher 30 12%
Student > Ph. D. Student 28 11%
Student > Bachelor 22 9%
Student > Doctoral Student 18 7%
Other 46 19%
Unknown 53 22%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 48 20%
Social Sciences 43 18%
Nursing and Health Professions 36 15%
Psychology 17 7%
Business, Management and Accounting 11 5%
Other 31 13%
Unknown 58 24%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 14 December 2015.
All research outputs
#13,747,876
of 23,306,612 outputs
Outputs from BMC Health Services Research
#4,747
of 7,801 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#131,295
of 275,392 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Health Services Research
#77
of 141 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,306,612 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 39th percentile – i.e., 39% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 7,801 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.9. This one is in the 36th percentile – i.e., 36% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 275,392 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 50% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 141 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 41st percentile – i.e., 41% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.