TY - JOUR
T1 - Research, education and capacity building priorities for violence, abuse and mental health in low- and middle-income countries
T2 - an international qualitative survey
AU - Keynejad, Roxanne C.
AU - Bentley, Abigail
AU - Bhatia, Urvita
AU - Nalwadda, Oliva
AU - Mekonnen, Fikru Debebe
AU - Ali, Parveen A.
AU - McGarry, Julie
N1 - Funding Information:
iVAMHN is funded by a King’s ODA Research Partnership Seed Fund grant (KODA_1819_004), a KCL Global Engagement Partnership Fund grant and matched funding from the KCL Division of Psychology and Systems Sciences. iVAMHN is nested within and has received in-kind support from the Violence Abuse and Mental Health Network (VAMHN). VAMHN is funded by UKRI (ES/S004424/1). RK is supported by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Global Health Research Unit on Health System Strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa (ASSET), King’s College London (GHRU 16/136/54) using UK aid from the UK Government. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. Her PhD is supported by a King’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience Clinician Investigator Scholarship. AB is supported by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Global Health Research Group on a package of care for the mental health of survivors of violence in South Asia (17/63/47).
Funding Information:
iVAMHN is funded by a King’s ODA Research Partnership Seed Fund Grant (KODA_1819_004), a KCL Global Engagement Partnership Fund grant and matched funding from the KCL Division of Psychology and Systems Sciences.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/3/25
Y1 - 2021/3/25
N2 - Purpose: Despite the World Health Organization and United Nations recognising violence, abuse and mental health as public health priorities, their intersection is under-studied in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). International violence, abuse and mental health network (iVAMHN) members recognised the need to identify barriers and priorities to develop this field. Methods: Informed by collaborative discussion between iVAMHN members, we conducted a pilot study using an online survey to identify research, education and capacity building priorities for violence, abuse and mental health in LMICs. We analysed free-text responses using thematic analysis. Results: 35 senior (29%) and junior researchers (29%), non-government or voluntary sector staff (18%), health workers (11%), students (11%) and administrators (3%) completed the survey. Respondents worked in 24 LMICs, with 20% working in more than one country. Seventy-four percent of respondents worked in sub-Saharan Africa, 37% in Asia and smaller proportions in Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Respondents described training, human resource, funding and sensitivity-related barriers to researching violence, abuse and mental health in LMICs and recommended a range of actions to build capacity, streamline research pathways, increase efficiency and foster collaborations and co-production. Conclusion: The intersection between violence, abuse and mental health in LMICs is a priority for individuals with a range of expertise across health, social care and the voluntary sector. There is interest in and support for building a strong network of parties engaged in research, service evaluation, training and education in this field. Networks like iVAMHN can act as hubs, bringing together diverse stakeholders for collaboration, co-production and mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and skills.
AB - Purpose: Despite the World Health Organization and United Nations recognising violence, abuse and mental health as public health priorities, their intersection is under-studied in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). International violence, abuse and mental health network (iVAMHN) members recognised the need to identify barriers and priorities to develop this field. Methods: Informed by collaborative discussion between iVAMHN members, we conducted a pilot study using an online survey to identify research, education and capacity building priorities for violence, abuse and mental health in LMICs. We analysed free-text responses using thematic analysis. Results: 35 senior (29%) and junior researchers (29%), non-government or voluntary sector staff (18%), health workers (11%), students (11%) and administrators (3%) completed the survey. Respondents worked in 24 LMICs, with 20% working in more than one country. Seventy-four percent of respondents worked in sub-Saharan Africa, 37% in Asia and smaller proportions in Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Respondents described training, human resource, funding and sensitivity-related barriers to researching violence, abuse and mental health in LMICs and recommended a range of actions to build capacity, streamline research pathways, increase efficiency and foster collaborations and co-production. Conclusion: The intersection between violence, abuse and mental health in LMICs is a priority for individuals with a range of expertise across health, social care and the voluntary sector. There is interest in and support for building a strong network of parties engaged in research, service evaluation, training and education in this field. Networks like iVAMHN can act as hubs, bringing together diverse stakeholders for collaboration, co-production and mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and skills.
KW - Abuse
KW - Capacity building
KW - Global mental health
KW - Low- and middle-income countries
KW - Mental health
KW - Violence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85103147478&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00127-021-02061-5
DO - 10.1007/s00127-021-02061-5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85103147478
SN - 0933-7954
JO - Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
JF - Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
ER -
