Assessment of Mental Health Services in Public Health Facilities of a North Indian District

Assessment of Mental Health Services in Public Health Facilities of a North Indian District | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Assessment of Mental Health Services in Public Health Facilities of a North Indian District Aninda Debnath, Harshal Ramesh Salve, Rajesh Sagar, Anand Krishnan, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7395299/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background The District Mental Health Program (DMHP) was launched in India to enhance access to mental health care in underserved areas through outreach, awareness, and treatment services. However, data on the quality and implementation of DMHP services remain limited. Methods This mixed-methods study was conducted in Faridabad district, Haryana, during April–May 2019. Six public health facilities, three Primary Health Centres, one Community Health Centre, one Sub-District Hospital, and one District Hospital; were selected. Data collection included structured facility assessments based on DMHP and WHO-AIMS frameworks and in-depth interviews with ten key stakeholders. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed to assess service delivery, infrastructure, drug availability, and systemic barriers. Results The study identified major gaps in service delivery. Only one medical officer had received DMHP training, and no community health workers were trained. Psychologists and psychiatric social workers were absent from most secondary care facilities, and no facility had inpatient psychiatric units. Psychotropic drug supply was inconsistent, particularly at PHCs. Mental health promotional activities were limited. Key barriers included contractual employment, low remuneration, inadequate infrastructure, stigma, and poor community awareness. Conclusion Strengthening human resources, training, infrastructure, and consistent drug supply is critical for improving DMHP implementation at the district level. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7395299","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":531610902,"identity":"68e19eb4-aa9c-4734-9316-5e3d621f5db1","order_by":0,"name":"Aninda Debnath","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Maulana Azad Medical College","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aninda","middleName":"","lastName":"Debnath","suffix":""},{"id":531610903,"identity":"64dcdbed-fcd6-470b-8b45-5fc30dc46d5f","order_by":1,"name":"Harshal Ramesh 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District\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research 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However, data on the quality and implementation of DMHP services remain limited.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis mixed-methods study was conducted in Faridabad district, Haryana, during April\u0026ndash;May 2019. Six public health facilities, three Primary Health Centres, one Community Health Centre, one Sub-District Hospital, and one District Hospital; were selected. Data collection included structured facility assessments based on DMHP and WHO-AIMS frameworks and in-depth interviews with ten key stakeholders. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed to assess service delivery, infrastructure, drug availability, and systemic barriers.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe study identified major gaps in service delivery. Only one medical officer had received DMHP training, and no community health workers were trained. Psychologists and psychiatric social workers were absent from most secondary care facilities, and no facility had inpatient psychiatric units. Psychotropic drug supply was inconsistent, particularly at PHCs. Mental health promotional activities were limited. Key barriers included contractual employment, low remuneration, inadequate infrastructure, stigma, and poor community awareness.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eStrengthening human resources, training, infrastructure, and consistent drug supply is critical for improving DMHP implementation at the district level.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Assessment of Mental Health Services in Public Health Facilities of a North Indian District","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-20 11:20:04","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7395299/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"81be4ff8-d35a-425a-83f8-2afadea7a874","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 20th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-16T14:24:16+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-20 11:20:04","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7395299","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7395299","identity":"rs-7395299","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}