E-mhGAP Intervention guide in Low and middle-income countries: proof-of-concept for Impact and Acceptability (Emilia)

Background: – Emilia is a 3 years project funded by the Medial Research Council UK. Emilia is led by Kings College London and will be implemented in Nepal and Nigeria.

Globally mental, neurological and substance use disorder are highly prevalent and responsible for 14% of the global burden of disease expressed in disability adjusted life years (DALYs) (Dua et al., 2011). Especially in Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), over 80% of people with severe mental disorders receive no treatment (Wang et al., 2007). To reduce this treatment gap, the WHO recommends and launched Mental Health Gap Action Program (mhGAP) a task-shifting approach and mhGAP intervention guide to strengthen the generalist workforce and improve access to mental health care (Dua et al., 2011). In October 2017, WHO launched the electronic version of mhGAP IG, in both iOS and Android versions suitable for smart phones and tablets.

This project is going to be implemented in Jhapa district to assess whether, when compared with training, support and supervision to primary health care (PHC) staff to use the paper version of the WHO mhGAP IG v2.0, training, support and supervision to PHC staff to use the e-version on a mobile device will be considered more feasible for routine use or not.

Objectives: The overall objective of the Emilia project is to determine the feasibility of implementing an adapted e-version of the mhGAP Intervention Guide (mhGAP IG) in primary health care clinics in low and lower-middle income countries.

Target group: Primary health care workers and adult population with mental health problems

Implementation area: Selected municipalities / rural municipalities in Jhapa district

Time frame: October 2018 – March 2022

Supported by: Medial Research Council, UK

Partners: King’s College London, World Health Organization Geneva, University of Ibidan, Duke University and TPO Nepal