(a) whether the Government has formulated any outreach measures for supporting mental health of housewives considering very high rate of suicides and, if so, the details thereof; and
(b) the number of women who have availed Government services under manodarpan and various other initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic, State/UT-wise?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE
(DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)
(a): To address the burden of mental disorders, the Government of India implements the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP). The Government supported to implement the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP) under NMHP in 704 districts of the country with the objectives to:
(i) Provide suicide prevention services, work place stress management, life skills training and counselling in schools and colleges.
(ii) Provide mental health services including prevention, promotion and long-term continuing care at different levels of district healthcare delivery system.
(iii) Augment institutional capacity in terms of infrastructure, equipment and human resource for mental healthcare.
(iv) Promote community awareness and participation in the delivery of mental healthcare services.
Facilities made available under DMHP at the Community Health Centre(CHC) and Primary Health Centre(PHC) levels, include outpatient services, assessment, counselling/ psycho-social interventions, continuing care and support to persons with severe mental disorders, drugs, outreach services, ambulance services etc. In addition to above services there is a provision of 10 bedded in-patient facility at the District level.
Besides the above, the Government has announced a “National Tele Mental Health Programme” in the Budget of 2022-23, to further improve access to quality mental health counselling and care services in the country.
(b): Manodarpan is an initiative of the Ministry of Education as part of “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” which aims to provide psychosocial support to students, teachers and families for mental health and emotional well-being during the times of COVID-19 and beyond. The initiative envisages to facilitate peer support and promote positivity and enhance life skills among students during Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. The various activities under the Manodarpan initiative, which focus on extending support and addressing the Mental Health concerns of target population (students, teachers and families) are as under:
(i) An Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) operated Toll-free tele-helpline is run to provide counselling to students, teachers and parents. Trained counsellors are providing counselling services from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm through the IVRS.
(ii) Live interactive webinars ‘Paricharcha’ are organised every Friday from 2:30 to 4:00 pm. Live interactive sessions ‘Sahyog’ with practicing counsellors are held from 5:00-5:30 pm (Monday-Friday) across different regions for students (classes VI-XII). These sessions address various mental health and emotional well-being concerns of students, parents and teachers and are telecast on PM e-vidya channel and are also available on ‘NCERT Official’ YouTube Channel.
(iii) A webpage (https://manodarpan.education.gov.in/) on the website of the Ministry of Education to provide advisory and guidelines for students, parents and teachers as well as directory of counsellors.
The State/UT-wise details of women who have availed Government services under manodarpan during the COVID-19 pandemic are not available with the Department of Health and Family Welfare.
Further, realizing the impact that COVID-19 may have on the mental health of the people, the Government has taken a number of initiatives to provide psychosocial support during COVID-19. These initiatives include:
(i) Setting up of a 24/7 helpline to provide psychosocial support, by mental health professionals, to the entire affected population, divided into different target groups viz children, adult, elderly, women and healthcare workers.
(ii) Issuance of guidelines/ advisories on management of mental health issues, catering to different segments of the society.
(iii) Advocacy through various media platforms in the form of creative and audio-visual materials on managing stress and anxiety, and promoting an environment of support and care for all.
(iv) Issuance of detailed guidelines by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru- "Mental Health in the times of COVID-19 Pandemic - Guidance for General Medical and Specialized Mental Health Care Settings".
(v) All the guidelines, advisories and advocacy material can be accessed on Ministry of Health and Family Welfare website under “Behavioural Health – Psychosocial helpline” (https://www.mohfw.gov.in/).
(vi) Online capacity building of health workers by NIMHANS in providing psychosocial support and training through (iGOT)-Diksha platform.
*****