The Aim of the Project:
Led by Dr. Vikram Patel (PI, Harvard Medical School), Dr. Anant Bhan (Site PI, Sangath), and Dr. John A. Naslund (Project Lead, Harvard Medical School), the ESSENCE project aims to enhance mental health care in South Asia by bridging the gap between scientific research and clinical services. It focuses on strengthening collaborations between South Asian institutions and scaling up effective mental health interventions.
ESSENCE focuses on the following objectives:
1) Evolving the existing administrative infrastructure of SHARE Hub (the South Asian Hub for Advocacy, Research and Education on mental health) for International Mental Health Research, into a South Asian Mental Health Implementation Science Hub comprising of the ESSENCE partners which include governmental, non-governmental, academic, and implementing agencies in the region.
2) Carrying out implementation research to assess the comparative effectiveness of technology-enabled interventions to train non-specialist health workers and provide them implementation support to address the key barriers to the coordinated delivery of evidence-based clinical treatments for depression (Healthy Activity Program and Antidepressant Therapy) at the primary health care level.
3) Developing and offering a range of opportunities, including fellowships and online courses tailored for the region, to build the capacity of the researchers to generate knowledge, of the media professionals and service user representatives to disseminate that knowledge, and of policy makers and program managers to ensure uptake of the knowledge.
The Background:
In India, depression accounts for 37% of the mental health-related Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) and significantly contributes to the burden attributed to suicide and ischemic heart disease thus making it a critical public health priority. However, despite the knowledge of evidence-based clinical treatments (EBT) treatment gaps exceed 90% in rural areas. ESSENCE will address the critical knowledge gap regarding the training and implementation support strategies necessary to scale-up the delivery of cost-effective evidence-based treatments for depression in a low resource setting.
The Project Plan:
This implementation research project is working towards identifying the most effective and cost-effective strategies for scaling up evidence-based clinical treatments for depression (i.e., the Healthy Activity Program, a brief psychological treatment delivered by Non-Specialist Health Workers) in primary care facilities in Madhya Pradesh, India.
ESSENCE consists of two complementary, sequential randomized controlled trials:
Through these efforts, ESSENCE seeks to inform and transform mental health practices and policies within the region, aiming for a broader impact on public health strategies and care delivery.
Supporters and Project Duration:
The project is backed by the National Institute of Mental Health, spanning from 2017 to 2022.