Description of Session
For more than a century Afghanistan has been unstable, facing decades of war, social problems, and intense poverty. As a result, large part of the population suffers from a variety of mental health problems. The Government recognises the situation and has prioritised mental health, but progress is slow and services outside of Kabul remain poor. Methods: An international collaborative implemented a project in Badakshan province of Afghanistan using conventional and simple low-cost e-Health solutions to address the four most common issues: Depression, psychosis, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and substance abuse. Conventional townhall meetings informed community members to raise awareness and knowledge. In addition, an android-based mobile application used WHO’s mhGAP guidelines and protocols to: collect information from community healthcare workers; provide referral services to patients; provide blended learning to improve providers` mental health knowledge, skills, and practice; and to provide store-and forward and live consultations. Results: Preliminary evaluation shows enhanced access to care for remote communities, decreased stigma, and improved quality of health services. Primary workers are also able to bridge the gap in consultations for rural and remote communities connecting them with specialists and providing better access to care. Mobile based learning for health providers showed significant change in the case districts, where overall knowledge scores changed from 45% in pre-intervention test to 63% in post-intervention test. Overall background knowledge of pre to post module test scores changed from 30% to 40%, knowledge of symptoms showed correct responses raised from 25% to 44%, knowledge related to causes of depression from overall districts showed change from 22% to 51%, and treatment knowledge of depression improved from 29% to 35%. Conclusion: The study confirms that a mobile application for health providers in Badakshan, Afghanistan, helped enhance their knowledge and competency for providing better care.
