A 'Grantathon' model to mentor new investigators in mental health research.

BACKGROUND: There is a critical gap between needs and available resources for mental health treatment across the world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In countries committed to increasing resources to address these needs it is important to conduct research, not only to assess the depth of mental health needs and the current provision of public and private mental health services, but also to examine implementation methods and evaluate mental health approaches to determine which methods are most effective in local contexts. However, research resources in many LMICs are inadequate, largely because conventional research training is time-consuming and expensive. Adapting a hackathon model may be a feasible method of increasing capacity for mental health services research in resource-poor countries. METHODS: To explore the feasibility of this approach, we developed a 'grantathon', i.e. a research training workshop, to build capacity among new investigators on implementation research of Indian government-funded mental health programmes, which was based on a need expressed by government agencies. The workshop was conducted in Delhi, India, and brought together junior faculty members working in mental health services settings throughout the country, experienced international behavioural health researchers and representatives of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), the prime Indian medical research funding agency. Pre- and post-assessments were used to capture changes in participants' perceived abilities to develop proposals, design research studies, evaluate outcomes and develop collaborations with ICMR and other researchers. Process measures were used to track the number of single-or multi-site proposals that were generated and funded. RESULTS: Participants (n = 24) generated 12 single- or multi-site research grant applications that will be funded by ICMR. CONCLUSION: The grantathon model described herein can be modified to build mental health services research capacity in other contexts. Given that this workshop not only was conceptualised and delivered but also returned results in less than 1 year, this model has the potential to quickly build research capacity and ultimately reduce the mental health treatment gap in resource-limited settings.

Effectiveness of a Brief Psychological Intervention Delivered by Nurse for Depression in Pregnancy: Study Protocol for a Multicentric Randomized Controlled Trial from India.

BACKGROUND: Perinatal depression (PD) has important implications for maternal and infant well-being but largely goes undetected. There is a need to develop low-intensity psychosocial interventions applicable to obstetric health care facilities. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of a brief psychological intervention for mild to moderate PD delivered by a nurse as compared to treatment-as-usual (TAU). METHODS: This study is a randomized, open-label, parallel-group, multicentric trial being conducted in four sites of India. A total of 816 pregnant women with mild to moderately severe depression (Patient Health Questionaire-9 score of 5-19) are being assessed for the effectiveness of the intervention. Participants are randomly allocated to two groups of trial intervention (psychological intervention given by nurse) and TAU. The primary outcome is to compare the proportion of women reporting improvement across both groups. Participants are serially followed-up in each trimester and at 6, 10, 14 weeks, and 6 months postpartum. Secondary outcomes include pregnancy outcomes, feeding practices, physical growth, and immunization status of the infants. CONCLUSION: It is a prospective pregnancy birth cohort with a robust design and long-term follow-up. This is one of the largest studies utilizing non-specialist health workers for the screening and management of PD. This study also holds promise to cast light on the course and outcome of depression during pregnancy in different parts of India. It is envisaged to help in developing a sound screening and referral-based protocol for obstetric settings.