Search

There are a multitude of stakeholders involved in the protection, education, mental health and psychosocial care of children for children in LMIC countries. The article presents how the current medical and public health models for child mental healthcare, do not adequately address the complexities of child protection and mental health. It argues for mental health professionals to: (a) recognise the role of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in mental health morbidity; (b) adopt an alternative approach, namely that of transdisciplinarity, to enable more effective solutions to children's psychosocial and mental health issues, through systemic reform and transformation., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Adverse childhood experiences and protection risks such as neglect and abuse and family psychosocial and protection vulnerabilities, beginning in early childhood, are linked to negative development and mental health. Child protection is becoming an increasing concern in India, creating new imperatives to address it amongst all children, but particularly among children below the age of 6 years, who due to their age and developmental abilities, are rendered more vulnerable than older child populations. It is therefore imperative, particularly in developing contexts such as India, for early childhood development (ECCD) to integrate child protection and mental health services into their existing intervention package. Although early childhood programs work with multiple sectors, they have limited collaboration with child mental health and child protection systems. This article addresses the question of how to integrate child protection and mental health interventions into existing ECCD programs by describing the experience of a pilot project in the Indian context. It provides the rationale, methodology and content of service delivery for integrating child protection and mental health interventions into the existing ECCD program, the Integrated Child Development Scheme, highlighting emerging concerns and challenges and drawing from the interventions to show how some of these were addressed.

Novel Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID 19) pandemic has affected more than 2 million individuals and causing over 0.1 million deaths worldwide. In India, the pandemic has gained momentum in the last few weeks with over 10,000 cases and 400 deaths. In the absence of any pharmacological cure on the horizon, countries have resorted to the use of strict public health measures to curtail spread of further infection to fight the coronavirus. The pandemic and its social implications have triggered mental health concerns among the masses. Providing psychological first aid and psychosocial support is vital in mitigating the distress and enhance the coping strategies of people to deal with this biological disaster. Tele-mental health services play an important role in this regard. In this article we describe our preliminary experience in understanding the psychological concerns of general public and addressing them by providing psychological support through a national telephonic helpline., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Despite the worldwide burden of mental illness and recent interest in global approaches to address this, progress on increasing awareness, lessening stigma, reducing the treatment gap, and improving research and training in mental health has been slow. In 2018, the North East England South Asia Mental health Alliance (NEESAMA) was developed as a collaboration between high-income (global north) and low- to middle-income (global south) countries to address this slow progress. This paper outlines how the joint priority areas for research, training and service delivery were identified across the life course (child and adolescent, adults and older people) between partner organisations spanning Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the UK. It describes the progress to date and proposes a way forward for similar alliances to be forged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Support, Advocacy, and Mental health interventions for children in Vulnerable circumstances And Distress (SAMVAD) is a National Initiative and Integrated Resource for Child Protection, Mental Health, and Psychosocial Care, established by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India; this initiative is located in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NIMHANS. With the aim of enhancing child and adolescent psychosocial well-being, through the promotion of transdisciplinary and integrated approaches to mental health and protection, SAMVAD was established to extend its support and activities to all the states in the country. It comprises a multidisciplinary team of childcare professionals, with expertise in training and capacity building, program and policy research pertaining to child mental health, protection, education, and law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Swatantra-Clinic' at NIMHANS, India, provides mental healthcare to vulnerable children. This study describes the clinical profile, vulnerability and protective factors of 77 adolescents in conflict with the law (CICL). 90.9 % (n=70) reported Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), 58.4 % (n=45) had school-related difficulties, 68.9 % (n=53) reported child labour experiences, 64.9 % (n=50) had deviant peer associations, and 40 % (n=31) experimented with substance use. Despite vulnerabilities, 72.7 %(n=56) had a positive future orientation, 45.5 % (n=35) had supportive caregivers and exhibited prosocial skills. only 12 % (n=9) followed up on recommendations, highlighting the need for collaborative and transdisciplinary care to promote CICL rehabilitation and community integration. • Around 90% of the children referred from the juvenile justice system had Adverse Childhood Experiences. • About 40% also had multiple protective factors that could promote socio-emotional outcomes. • Only 12% reported to follow-up, and information regarding the implementation and outcomes of rehabilitation recommendations for the majority is unknown. • Transdisciplinary and multisystemic interventions with ongoing support after community integration are crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In developing contexts such as India, children in adversity form a high-risk group, one that cannot be subsumed under the general category of children, who are generally considered as a vulnerable group in disaster and crisis situations. Child mental health issues in contexts of protection risks and childhood adversity tend to be over-looked in such crises. This article focuses on examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic consequences on children in adversity, describing the increased child protection and psychosocial risks they are placed at, during and in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis and its lockdown situation. It specifically links the lockdown and the ensuing economic issues to sexuality and abuse-related risks, as occur in contexts of child labour, child sex work and trafficking, child marriage and child sexual abuse, and that result in immediate and long-term mental health problems in children. It proposes a disaster risk reduction lens to offer recommendations to address the emerging child protection, psychosocial and mental health concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is growing evidence about the psychological distress and mental health issues experienced by infants with developmental problems. Problems related to developmental issues can be mitigated with early identification and intervention. A simple screening measure is needed to identify infants at risk for mental health issues to make informed decisions about further assessment and interventions. In this background, the present study aimed to develop a checklist to identify infants with psychological distress and at risk for mental health issues without the need to administer full-scale socioemotional tools and intended to be used by primary care professionals for early identification of risk factors followed by intervention to reduce the risk. Early identification of infants at risk in view of the limited resources would help in reducing the impact of early trajectories on the socioemotional health of any infant. Aim: The present study aims to develop a checklist for rapid screening. In view of the limited resources of low-income countries, early identification of infants at risk is important. This would help in reducing the impact of early trajectories on the socioemotional health of infants. Methods: The checklist was based on the "functional and emotional developmental approach" and a literature review of early indicators of psychological distress and mental health issues in infants. The checklist was prepared using objective terms which were further evaluated by mental health experts using standard methods. Accordingly, a content validity index (CVI) was calculated to determine the relevance and clarity of the items. Result: Based on the CVI, 16 items were retained in the final checklist, which was reported to have excellent relevance (CVI = 0.91) and clarity (CVI = 0.84). Conclusion: The checklist is concise with adequate content validity and has the potential to be used in primary care settings to screen infants at risk for psychological distress and mental health issues and make appropriate referrals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health care act, 2017 has adopted a rights based approach towards persons with mental illness. For the first time, child mental health related issues are given some importance in comparison to earlier Mental health act, 1987. We, bring here highlights of the act as pertinent to legal aspects of child mental health treatment. Act advocates for increased monitoring, regulation of admission, treatment and research involving minors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]