NHTC Module-2 training for Primary Health Care Workers
Five days of NHTC Module-2 training on mental health and two days of research and evaluation were successfully conducted by TPO Nepal in close coordination with the National Health Training Centre (NHTC) and Provincial health directorate, Gandaki province from 24th to 30th January 2023 at Pokhara. The mental health training was conducted based on the NHTC Module 2. The objective of this training was to train the Primary Health Care (PHC) workers on NHTC Module 2. A total of 17 health workers (12M/5F), participated in the training. A pre-test and post-test were conducted to ensure the effectiveness of the training.
The training was formally started with welcome remarks from Khim Bahadur Khadka (Director, Health Directorate, Gandaki Province) highlighting the importance of strengthening the capacity of primary healthcare workers to provide quality mental health services at the community level. Mr. Ramesh Adhikari (Director, Health Training Center-Gandaki Province) provided updates on different modules that have been developed as a part of the task-sharing strategies of mhGAP and ensured that regular monitoring and supervision will be done by the training center. Dr. Roshan Neupane (Director, Province Health Logistic Center) recommended that health facilities should also work actively to ensure a certain budget from the local government for medication procurement as the health facility are much closer to the local government than the logistic center to ensure regular supply of regular medications.
The training session was facilitated by Dr.Ravi Raj Timasina, a Psychiatrist at Gandaki Medical College, and Dr. Lila Devkota, a Psychiatrist at Bheri Hospital. Similarly, Ms. Sabitra Sharma, Clinical supervisor/Trainer at TPO Nepal, facilitated the psychosocial sessions. Facilitators provided training on different mental health conditions and their psychosocial and pharmacological management at the primary health care setting using different methods such as lectures, discussions, role-play, videos, and group work.
