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Background: Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme is offered for persons with disabilities (PwD) under the National Trust Act, 1999, since 2008. There is less awareness among health professionals, PwD, and caregivers about this. Aims: The aim of the study was to study the number of enrolled PwD in the Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme across the country since its inception. Methods: Annual reports of the National Trust were available in the public domain, and information obtained from the National Trust was used for analysis. Results: Total enrollments have steadily increased from 36,153 (2008–2009) to 96,716 (2018–2019). Madhya Pradesh state accounted for more than two-thirds of total enrollments in the year 2018–2019, and enrollments from many other states and union territories are lesser than 100. Conclusions: After a decade of its launch, less than a fraction of eligible PwD is enrolled in the scheme. Multipronged efforts are needed to promote the enrollment and utilization of the benefits of the Scheme.

Background: There is increasing evidence of the need for treatment engagement between Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMIs) and Mental Health Professionals (MHPs). This therapeutic process involves collaborative work between patients and MHPs, which improves the condition. Community nurses are uniquely positioned to facilitate this process as they act as the focal point of interaction between patients and the health system. Methods: This qualitative study explored the community nurses' experiences in treatment engagement with PwSMI through eight group interviews of 35 community nurses from District Mental Health Programs (DMHPs) across Karnataka (South India) from February 2020 to March 2020. The audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed and coded to arrive at themes and subthemes. Results: The major themes identified were factors influencing treatment engagement, strategies to tackle treatment nonengagement, and challenges in dealing with nonengagement. The reasons for nonengagement were lack of insight and lack of knowledge of sociocultural, logistic, and treatment-related factors. The DMHP teams contacted patients through phone calls, home visits, and liaisons with health workers and intervened with them through education and depot injections. The major challenges were difficulty conducting home visits, distances, the unavailability of medications, and the need for adequate infrastructure and human resources. Conclusion: Community nurses address a few factors of nonengagement, such as insight, sociocultural factors, and treatment-related factors. Addressing the systemic challenges and adequate training of nurses in intervening in the dropped-out PwSMIs would help to reduce the treatment gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: India uses the Indian Disability Evaluation and Assessment Scale (IDEAS) for quantifying disability due to mental illness. The cutoff score for benchmark disability is 7. India has adopted International Classification of Functioning and Health (ICF) and thereby is a signatory to use World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS). Cutoff for benchmark disability in WHODAS in a community-based sample is lacking. Methods: The study was conducted in Jagaluru Taluk, Davanagere District, Karnataka. It is a part of an ongoing research funded by Indian Council of Medical Research. Frequency, percentages, mean, standard deviations, mode, median, Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve were used in analyzing the data. Results: The study included 184 persons with severe mental illness with mean age of 47 and average duration of illness (DOI) of 11 years. They had mild disability (5.99) in IDEAS. The corresponding cutoff score in WHODAS, as compared to IDEAS, when the influence of DOI is removed was 24. Conclusions: A shift from IDEAS to WHODAS is feasible. With the undue influence of DOI removed, both hospital and community-based samples show the score of 24 as cutoff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Work benefits mental health in innumerable ways. Vocational rehabilitation can enhance self-esteem. Medication adherence can improve work performance and thereby the individuals′ self-esteem. Aim: To test the hypothesis that there would be a significant correlation between medication adherence, work performance and self-esteem. Setting and Design: A quantitative, descriptive correlational research design was adopted to invite patients attending psychiatric rehabilitation services to participate in the research. Material and Methods: Data was collected from a convenience sample of 60 subjects using the ′Medication Adherence Rating scale′, ′Griffiths work behaviour scale′ and the ′Rosenberg′s Self-esteem scale′. Statistical analysis used: Analysis was done using spss18 with descriptive statistics, Pearsons correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. Results: There were 36 males and 24 females who participated in this study. The subjects had good mean medication adherence of 8.4 ± 1.5 with median of 9.00, high mean self-esteem of 17.65 ± 2.97 with median of 18.0 and good mean work performance of 88.62 ± 22.56 with median of 93.0. Although weak and not significant, there was a positive correlation (r = 0.22, P = 0.103) between medication adherence and work performance; positive correlation between (r = 0.25, P = 0.067) medication adherence and self-esteem; positive correlation between (r = 0.136, P = 0.299) work performance and self-esteem. Multiple regression analysis showed no significant predictors for medication adherence, work performance and self-esteem among patients with psychiatric illness. Conclusions: Medication monitoring and strengthening of work habit can improve self-esteem thereby, strengthening hope of recovery from illness.

The article presents the discussion on India being a collectivist society emphasizing family integrity, loyalty, and unity. Topics include large-scale international collaborative studies by the World Health Organization demonstrating the persons with schizophrenia in India; and difficulties in dealing with patient's dysfunctional and problem behavior and the impact on caregivers' physical and mental well-being.