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Tunisia is a lower-middle-income country located in North Africa with strengths and challenges to its mental health system. We present an overview of available services, facilities, and human resources to offer mental health care in Tunisia. We conducted a cross-sectional study, where data for the year 2017 was collected between May 2018 and May 2019 by consulting stakeholders involved in the health field in Tunisia. We compare this information with data published in the WHO-AIMS report (2008), which presents mental health data in Tunisia for the year 2004. Successes of the mental health system in Tunisia include an increase in the ratios of psychiatrists and psychologists, with these ratios being higher than those of other lower-middle-income countries; a flourishing child-psychiatry practice; and an increase in people being treated for mental health conditions. Challenges include psychiatrists being over-represented in large cities along the coastline and in the private sector, and most people receiving treatment in specialized mental health facilities. The further operationalization of the National Strategy for Mental Health Promotion is envisioned, through the training of non-specialists in mental health care and incentives offered to psychiatrists to work in the country's interior and the public sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors discuss lessons learned from a pilot trial to inform the scale-up of a training based on the Mental Health Gap Action Programme in Tunisia. Topics covered include the uneven distribution of mental health specialists across Tunisia, integration of mental health within primary care settings, and organization of public mental health services through sectorization.

Benzodiazepines may be prescribed to manage anxiety and insomnia in patients with depression. However, as noticed during our daily practice, a considerable proportion of patients treated for depression and receiving benzodiazepines developed a dependence to these medicines. Our aims were to estimate the proportion of patients with depression who develop a benzodiazepine dependence and to identify its correlates. We conducted a comparative study in Razi Hospital's outpatient psychiatry unit (Tunisia). We included patients aged 18 to 65 years who were diagnosed with depression during the first three quarters of 2014. Included patients were prescribed benzodiazepines. Follow-up period was of 2 years. A multivariate analysis was performed to identify dependence-associated factors. We included 54 patients, and 52% developed a benzodiazepine dependence during the follow-up period. Two associated factors were identified: a daily mean benzodiazepine dose of more than 9.5 milligrams of diazepam equivalents prior to taper off (p =.001) and a benzodiazepine taper-off initiated after the fifth week of benzodiazepine intake onset (p =.007). The proportion of patients who developed a benzodiazepine dependence was high. Low doses and time-limited benzodiazepine prescription should be taken into consideration when managing patients with depression in order to prevent dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the rise in mental health conditions in Tunisia, a training based on the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) Intervention Guide (IG) was offered to primary care physicians (PCPs) working in the Greater Tunis area. Non-specialists (such as PCPs)' training is an internationally supported way to target untreated mental health symptoms. We aimed to evaluate the programme's impact on PCPs' mental health knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy and self-reported practice, immediately following and 18 months after training. We conducted an exploratory trial with a combination of designs: a pretest-posttest control group design and a one-group pretest-posttest design were used to assess the training's short-term impact; and a repeated measures design was used to assess the training's long-term impact. The former relied on a delayed-intervention strategy: participants assigned to the control group (Group 2) received the training after the intervention group (Group 1). The intervention consisted of a weekly mhGAP-based training session (totalling 6 weeks), comprising lectures, discussions, role plays and a support session offered by trainers. Data were collected at baseline, following Group 1's training, following Group 2's training and 18 months after training. Descriptive, bivariate and ANOVA analyses were conducted. Overall, 112 PCPs were randomized to either Group 1 (n = 52) or Group 2 (n = 60). The training had a statistically significant short-term impact on mental health knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy scores but not on self-reported practice. When comparing pre-training results and results 18 months after training, these changes were maintained. PCPs reported a decrease in referral rates to specialized services 18 months after training in comparison to pre-training. The mhGAP-based training might be useful to increase mental health knowledge and self-efficacy, and decrease reported referral rates and negative mental health attitudes among PCPs in Tunisia and other low- and middle-income countries. Future studies should examine relationships among these outcome variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In order to make mental health services more accessible, the Tunisian Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the School of Public Health at the University of Montreal, the World Health Organization office in Tunisia and the Montreal World Health Organization-Pan American Health Organization Collaborating Center for Research and Training in Mental Health, implemented a training programme based on the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) Intervention Guide (IG) (version 1.0), developed by the World Health Organization. This article describes the phase prior to the implementation of the training, which was offered to general practitioners working in primary care settings in the Greater Tunis area of Tunisia. Methods The phase prior to implementation consisted of adapting the standard mhGAP-IG (version 1.0) to the local primary healthcare context. This adaptation process, an essential step before piloting the training, involved discussions with stakeholder groups, as well as field observations. Results Through the adaptation process, we were able to make changes to the standard training format and material. In addition, the process helped uncover systemic barriers to effective mental health care. Conclusions Targeting these barriers in addition to implementing a training programme may help reduce the mental health treatment gap, and promote implementation that is successful and sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), addressing the high prevalence of mental disorders is a challenge given the limited number and unequal distribution of specialists, as well as scarce resources allocated to mental health. The Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) and its accompanying Intervention Guide (IG), developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), aim to address this challenge by training non-specialists such as general practitioners (GPs) in mental health care. This trial aims to implement and evaluate an adapted version of the mhGAP-IG (version 1.0) offered to GPs in 2 governorates of Tunisia (i.e., Tunis and Sousse), in order to uncover important information regarding implementation process and study design before country-wide implementation and evaluation.Methods/design: First, a systematic review will be conducted to explore types and effectiveness of mental health training programs offered to GPs around the world, with a specific focus on programs implemented and evaluated in LMICs. Second, a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented training based on the mhGAP-IG (version 1.0). Third, multiple case study design will be used to explore how contextual factors impact the successful implementation of the training and desired outcomes.Discussion: In Tunisia, an important need exists to further develop proximity health services and to address the growing mental health treatment gap. One solution is to train GPs in the detection, treatment, and management of mental health problems, given their strategic role in the healthcare system. This trial thus aims to implement and evaluate an adapted version of a training based on the mhGAP-IG (version 1.0) in Tunis and Sousse before country-wide implementation and evaluation. Several contributions are envisioned: adding to the growing evidence on the mhGAP and its accompanying guide, especially in French-speaking nations; building research capacity in Tunisia and more generally in LMICs by employing rigorous designs; evaluating an adapted version of the mhGAP-IG (version 1.0) on a sample of GPs; generating important information regarding implementation process and study design before country-wide implementation; and complimenting the trial results with implementation analysis, a priority in global mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on research which was conducted to investigate the prevalence and management of dementia in nursing home residents in Tunisia. Researchers evaluated 116 nursing home residents. They found that the prevalence of dementia among the residents was 58.4% and that the prevalence did not differ by any particular factors, including age, gender or marital status.