Table 6 Themes from the qualitative interviews with key stakeholders of the HAPPINESS project
Theme | Sub-Themes | Summary |
|---|---|---|
HAPPINESS project impact | new skills | Newly gained or improved ability to advocate for patients and detect, diagnose and treat mental illness. |
ideological changes | An improved awareness of mental illness, leading to more empathy and respect towards patients. | |
drug revolving fund | An overall positive impact on drug access. | |
Contextual threats to address | lack of awareness | High levels of misinformation and stigma in the population leading to undetected mental illness. |
physical/structural/systemic barriers | Poor access to mental health care (road access and availability of specialists), lack of funding, and lack of basic healthcare tools (some, unrelated to mental health). | |
Project-specific remarks and opportunities | promoting early detection and raising awareness | Educating community members and families to bring patients to a primary care center instead of alternative types of treatment (e.g., religious). |
supervision | Lack of supervision on a day-to-day basis for trainees. | |
training structure & components | Adding additional topics, increasing the length of training, and tailoring training to each type of health workers’ needs. | |
trainee recruitment & retention | Providing trainees additional stipends and recruiting trainees who are more deeply motivated to expand their knowledge on mental health care. | |
involving more people | Training more people and building more partnerships with local organizations. |