Development of a scalable mental healthcare plan for a rural district in Ethiopia

Background Developing evidence for the implementation and scaling up of mental healthcare in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) like Ethiopia is an urgent priority. Aims To outline a mental healthcare plan (MHCP), as a scalable template for the implementation of mental healthcare in rural Ethiopia. Method A mixed methods approach was used to develop the MHCP for the three levels of the district health system (community, health facility and healthcare organisation). Results The community packages were community case detection, community reintegration and community inclusion. The facility packages included capacity building, decision support and staff well-being. Organisational packages were programme management, supervision and sustainability. Conclusions The MHCP focused on improving demand and access at the community level, inclusive care at the facility level and sustainability at the organisation level. The MHCP represented an essential framework for the provision of integrated care and may be a useful template for similar LMIC.

• Publication year

  2016

• Venue

  British Journal of Psychiatry

• Publication date

  2016-01-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1192/bjp.bp.114.153676PMID 26447174PMCID 4698551
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Evaluation of district mental healthcare plans: the PRIME consortium methodology

  2016cited by this paper
• The multiplier role of psychiatrists in low income settings

  2014cited by this paper
• Are community mental health services relevant in low- and middle-income countries?

  2014cited by this paper
• Using workshops to develop theories of change in five low and middle income countries: lessons from the programme for improving mental health care (PRIME)

  2014cited by this paper
• Challenges and Opportunities for Implementing Integrated Mental Health Care: A District Level Situation Analysis from Five Low- and Middle-Income Countries

  2014cited by this paper
• PRIME: A Programme to Reduce the Treatment Gap for Mental Disorders in Five Low- and Middle-Income Countries

  2012cited by this paper
• Qualitative data analysis: the framework approach.

  2011cited by this paper
• Reducing the treatment gap for mental disorders: a WPA survey

  2010cited by this paper
• Clinical course and outcome of schizophrenia in a predominantly treatment-naive cohort in rural Ethiopia.

  2009cited by this paper
• The status of alcohol and drug abuse in Ethiopia: past, present and future

  2007cited by this paper
• The prevalence of epilepsy in the Zay Society, Ethiopia--an area of high prevalence.

  2006cited by this paper
• Clinical outcome in bipolar disorder in a community‐based follow‐up study in Butajira, Ethiopia

  2006cited by this paper
• Prevalence and clinical characteristics of bipolar I disorder in Butajira, Ethiopia: a community-based study.

  2005cited by this paper
• of three protozoan proteins from the isochorismatase superfamily Crystal structures and proposed structural / functional classification

  2005cited by this paper
• The treatment gap in mental health care.

  2004cited by this paper
• Treatment gap in mental health care.

  2004cited by this paper
• Onset and clinical course of schizophrenia in Butajira-Ethiopia

  2003cited by this paper
• An Evaluation of Two Screening Methods to Identify Cases with Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders in a Community Survey in Rural Ethiopia

  2002cited by this paper
• Suicide attempts among adults in Butajira, Ethiopia

  1999cited by this paper
• How are mental disorders seen and where is help sought in a rural Ethiopian community? A key informant study in Butajira, Ethiopia

  1999cited by this paper
• Major mental disorders in Butajira, southern Ethiopia

  1999cited by this paper
• Trends in suicide parasuicide and accidental poisoning in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.

  1999cited by this paper
• Trends in suicide parasuicide and accidental poisoning in children in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.

  1999cited by this paper
• Incidence of Epilepsy in Rural Central Ethiopia

  1997cited by this paper
• Schizophrenia: manifestations, incidence and course in different cultures. A World Health Organization ten-country study.

  1992cited by this paper
• Community reactions to mental disorders – A KEY INFORMANT STUDY IN THREE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

  1980cited by this paper
• Psychiatric Priorities in Developing Countries

  1976cited by this paper

• Geospatial Approaches to HIV Care: a Scoping Review of Asset Mapping

  2026cites this paper
• Social inclusion in global mental health contexts: how can we do more for what matters most?

  2026cites this paper
• Examining Stepped Care as an Innovation in the Delivery of Psychological Treatments for Bipolar Disorder: Perspectives From Members of the International Society of Bipolar Disorders Psychological Interventions Task Force

  2026cites this paper
• Mapping potential community resources and care pathways for earlier identification and recovery-oriented intervention for people with psychosis in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

  2026cites this paper
• Impact of co-morbid common mental disorder symptoms in people with epilepsy in Ethiopia on quality of life and functional disability: a cohort study

  2025influential citation
• Suicidal ideation and attempts among adults in eastern Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study

  2025influential citation
• Picturing a mental health journey: experience of a participatory photovoice approach to presenting recovery narratives of people with lived experiences and caregivers in Ethiopia

  2025cites this paper
• Brief problem-solving therapy (PST) for women experiencing antenatal depressive symptoms: a randomised, controlled feasibility trial in an antenatal care setting in rural Ethiopia

  2025cites this paper
• Leadership and governance for integrating mental healthcare at the primary healthcare (PHC) level: A mixed methods study in Ghana

  2025cites this paper
• Integrating Mental Health Services Into Perinatal Care: Challenges and Opportunities

  2025cites this paper
• Characterizing modifications to the mental health gap action programme (mhGAP) intervention guide during implementation in low- and middle-income countries using the framework for reporting adaptations and modifications to evidence-based interventions: a systematic review of reviews

  2025influential citation
• Supervision-based evaluation of primary healthcare workers’ performance after mhGAP-HIG training in Pakistan

  2025cites this paper
• Scaling Up Maternal Mental Health Care: Evaluating Community-Based Interventions in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review

  2025cites this paper
• Effects of community-based rehabilitation on caregivers of people with schizophrenia in Ethiopia in the RISE trial

  2025cites this paper
• Experience and perceptions of mental ill-health in people with epilepsy in rural Ethiopia: A qualitative study

  2024cites this paper
• A pilot study of implementing an adapted model for integration of interventions for people with alcohol use disorders in Tanzanian primary healthcare facilities

  2024cites this paper
• Implementing the mhGAP-HIG: The process and outcome of supervising trained primary health care workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

  2024cites this paper
• Developing interventions to improve detection of depression in primary healthcare settings in rural Ethiopia

  2024cites this paper
• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health care and people with mental health conditions in Ethiopia: the MASC mixed-methods study

  2023cites this paper
• Leadership and governance of mental healthcare and integration at the community level: a mixed methods study in Ghana

  2023cites this paper
• Adaptation of a model for integration of interventions for alcohol use disorders in primary health care in Tanzania

  2023influential citation
• Problem-solving therapy for pregnant women experiencing depressive symptoms and intimate partner violence: A randomised, controlled feasibility trial in rural Ethiopia

  2023cites this paper
• Studying the context of psychoses to improve outcomes in Ethiopia (SCOPE): Protocol paper

  2023cites this paper
• Adapting brief problem-solving therapy for pregnant women experiencing depressive symptoms and intimate partner violence in rural Ethiopia

  2023cites this paper
• Experience of traumatic events in people with severe mental illness in a low-income country: a qualitative study

  2023influential citation
• Tools, frameworks and resources to guide global action on strengthening rural health systems: a mapping review

  2023cites this paper
• Barriers and enablers to improving integrated primary healthcare for non-communicable diseases and mental health conditions in Ethiopia: a mixed methods study

  2023cites this paper
• Integration of Alcohol Use Disorder Interventions in General Health Care Settings in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review

  2022cites this paper
• Using participatory action research to pilot a model of service user and caregiver involvement in mental health system strengthening in Ethiopian primary healthcare: a case study

  2022cites this paper
• Transformative learning in the setting of religious healers: A case study of consultative mental health workshops with religious healers, Ethiopia

  2022cites this paper
• FASE-family and social engagement model for prevention and management of self harm behavior–a study protocol for cluster randomized control trial in India

  2022cites this paper
• Community Asset Mapping in Public Health: A Review of Applications and Approaches

  2022influential citation
• Mental health stigma and discrimination in Ethiopia: evidence synthesis to inform stigma reduction interventions

  2021cites this paper
• Comorbid mental disorders and quality of life of people with epilepsy attending primary health care clinics in rural Ethiopia

  2021cites this paper
• Traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder in individuals with severe mental illness in a non-western setting: Data from rural Ethiopia.

  2021cites this paper
• “Like a doctor, like a brother”: Achieving competence amongst lay health workers delivering community-based rehabilitation for people with schizophrenia in Ethiopia

  2021cites this paper
• Performance of primary health care workers in detection of mental disorders comorbid with epilepsy in rural Ethiopia

  2021cites this paper
• Posttraumatic stress disorder intervention for people with severe mental illness in a low-income country primary care setting: a randomized feasibility trial protocol

  2021cites this paper
• “Medical treatments are also part of God’s gift”: Holy water attendants’ perspectives on a collaboration between spiritual and psychiatric treatment for mental illness in Ethiopia

  2021cites this paper
• Psychotherapy in a resource-constrained setting: Understanding context for adapting and integrating a brief psychological intervention into primary care.

  2021cites this paper
• Development of a psychological intervention for people with bipolar disorder in rural Ethiopia

  2021cites this paper
• Perspectives of healthcare providers, service users, and family members about mental illness stigma in primary care settings: A multi-site qualitative study of seven countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe

  2021cites this paper
• "We improved our life because I cut my drinking": Qualitative analysis of a brief intervention for people with alcohol use disorder in Ethiopian primary health care.

  2021cites this paper
• The effect of expanded access to mental health care on economic status of households with a person with a mental disorder in rural Ethiopia: a controlled before-after study

  2021cites this paper
• Psychometric properties of screening questionnaires to detect depression in primary healthcare setting in rural Ethiopia

  2021cites this paper
• The Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Sub-Saharan Africa

  2020cites this paper
• The Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Sub-Saharan Africa

  2020cites this paper
• Developing a Theory of Change model of service user and caregiver involvement in mental health system strengthening in primary health care in rural Ethiopia

  2020cites this paper
• Brief problem-solving therapy for antenatal depressive symptoms in primary care in rural Ethiopia: protocol for a randomised, controlled feasibility trial

  2020cites this paper
• The Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Sub-Saharan Africa

  2020cites this paper
• Pathways into and out of homelessness among people with severe mental illness in rural Ethiopia: a qualitative study

  2020cites this paper
• Adaptation and piloting of an integrated intervention model for alcohol use disorders in primary healthcare in rural Tanzania: a study protocol

  2020cites this paper
• The Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Sub-Saharan Africa

  2020cites this paper
• Participatory action research to pilot a model of mental health service user involvement in an Ethiopian rural primary healthcare setting: study protocol

  2020cites this paper
• Models of community-based primary care for epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries

  2020cites this paper
• Impact of integrated mental health care on food insecurity of households of people with severe mental illness in a rural African district: a community‐based, controlled before–after study

  2020cites this paper
• Health service costs and their association with functional impairment among adults receiving integrated mental health care in five low- and middle-income countries: the PRIME cohort study

  2020cites this paper
• A qualitative needs assessment of human trafficking in Ethiopia: recommendations for a comprehensive, coordinated response

  2020cites this paper
• Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice towards epilepsy among religious cleric and traditional healers of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

  2020cites this paper
• Substance Use Disorders in Global Mental Health Delivery: Epidemiology, Treatment Gap, and Implementation of Evidence-Based Treatments.

  2020cites this paper
• Problem solving therapy (PST) tailored for intimate partner violence (IPV) versus standard PST and enhanced usual care for pregnant women experiencing IPV in rural Ethiopia: protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial

  2020cites this paper
• Methodological Issues in Epidemiological Studies on Mental Health in Rural Populations

  2019cites this paper
• Advances in Psychiatry

  2019cites this paper
• Treatment gap, help-seeking, stigma and magnitude of alcohol use disorder in rural Ethiopia

  2019cites this paper
• Trauma exposure, depression, suicidal ideation, and alcohol use in people with severe mental disorder in Ethiopia

  2019cites this paper
• Moving towards universal health coverage for mental disorders in Ethiopia

  2019cites this paper
• Food insecurity and work impairment in people with severe mental disorders in a rural district of Ethiopia: a cross-sectional survey

  2019cites this paper
• Catastrophic out-of-pocket payments for households of people with severe mental disorder: a comparative study in rural Ethiopia

  2019influential citation
• Organization of Mental Health Services in Rural Areas

  2019cites this paper
• Finding “What Works”: Theory of Change, Contingent Universals, and Virtuous Failure in Global Mental Health

  2019cites this paper
• Catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment in households of persons with depression: a cross-sectional, comparative study in rural Ethiopia

  2019cites this paper
• Burnout among primary healthcare workers during implementation of integrated mental healthcare in rural Ethiopia: a cohort study

  2019cites this paper
• Harnessing Technology to Address the Global Mental Health Crisis

  2019cites this paper
• Functional impairment among people diagnosed with depression in primary healthcare in rural Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional study

  2019cites this paper
• Prioritising Women’s Mental Health for the Achievement of the SDGs in Africa

  2019cites this paper
• Mental health problems and socioeconomic disadvantage: a controlled household study in rural Ethiopia

  2019cites this paper
• Impact of integrated district level mental health care on clinical and social outcomes of people with severe mental illness in rural Ethiopia: an intervention cohort study

  2019influential citation
• The psychosis treatment gap and its consequences in rural Ethiopia

  2019cites this paper
• Rural vs urban residence and experience of discrimination among people with severe mental illnesses in Ethiopia

  2019cites this paper
• LSHTM Research Online

  2019cites this paper
• Equitable access to mental healthcare integrated in primary care for people with severe mental disorders in rural Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study

  2019cites this paper
• Community-based rehabilitation intervention for people with schizophrenia in Ethiopia (RISE): a 12 month mixed methods pilot study

  2018cites this paper
• Public mental health: key challenges and opportunities

  2018cites this paper
• Postpartum depressive symptoms in the context of high social adversity and reproductive health threats: a population-based study

  2018cites this paper
• Use of the WHO’s Perceived Well-Being Index (WHO-5) as an Efficient and Potentially Valid Screen for Depression in a Low Income Country

  2018cites this paper
• Partnerships in a Global Mental Health Research Programme—the Example of PRIME

  2018cites this paper
• Impact of district mental health care plans on symptom severity and functioning of patients with priority mental health conditions: the Programme for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME) cohort protocol

  2018cites this paper
• Implementing integrated services for people with epilepsy in primary care in Ethiopia: a qualitative study

  2018influential citation
• Using a mentorship model to localise the Practical Approach to Care Kit (PACK): from South Africa to Nigeria

  2018cites this paper
• Detection and treatment initiation for depression and alcohol use disorders: facility-based cross-sectional studies in five low-income and middle-income country districts

  2018cites this paper
• Using a mentorship model to localise the Practical Approach to Care Kit (PACK): from South Africa to Ethiopia

  2018cites this paper
• Engaging and staying engaged: a phenomenological study of barriers to equitable access to mental healthcare for people with severe mental disorders in a rural African setting

  2017influential citation
• Balancing the Local and the Global: Commentary on ‘Globalizing Mental Health: Challenges and New Visions’ Section

  2017cites this paper
• Mental Health and Primary Care

  2017cites this paper
• RUNNING HEAD: Suicidal ideation and behaviour in five low-, middle income countries Suicidal ideation and behaviour among community and health care seeking populations in five low and middle-income countries: a cross-sectional study

  2017cites this paper
• Empowering patients of a mental rehabilitation center in a low-resource context: a Moroccan experience as a case study

  2017cites this paper
• Food insecurity among people with severe mental disorder in a rural Ethiopian setting: a comparative, population-based study

  2017cites this paper
• mixed-methods protocol project in rural Rwanda : a prospective a primary care mental health integration Evaluating process and clinical outcomes of

  2017cites this paper
• “I cry every day and night, I have my son tied in chains”: physical restraint of people with schizophrenia in community settings in Ethiopia

  2017influential citation
• Developing capacity-building activities for mental health system strengthening in low- and middle-income countries for service users and caregivers, service planners, and researchers

  2017cites this paper