NIMHANS-AHT Comprehensive Mental-Health Action Program for Rural Communities

April 17, 2023

The National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) and NGO Ashraya Hastha Trust (AHT) signed an MoU recently to test the feasibility of a model comprehensive rural mental health program named “NAMAN” (NIMHANS-AHT Comprehensive Mental-Health Action Program for Rural Communities) in two taluks before launching it nationwide.

The NAMAN program

NAMAN envisions to deliver promotive, preventive, therapeutic, and rehabilitative care for the entire population of the target taluks utilizing the existing human resources in the community. It will be implemented over 3 years in 4 phases. The first phase includes resource building, which involves staff recruitment and training. The second phase will involve the conducting of the situational analysis to assess the mental health of the respective taluks. The third phase is intervention, which involves therapeutic and rehabilitation services. The final phase is evaluation.

Implementation partners and collaborating institutes

The two taluks selected for implementing NAMAN are Munsiyari in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district and Belur Taluk in Karnataka’s Hassan district. NIMHANS will develop and implement the overall roadmap of the program, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) -Rishikesh will collaborate with NIMHANS to deliver the program in Uttarakhand. Other implementation partners include the state governments of Karnataka and Uttarakhand.

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