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Nadja van Ginneken

Other affiliations: University of London
Bio: Nadja van Ginneken is an academic researcher from University of Liverpool. The author has contributed to research in topics: Mental health & Psychological intervention. The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 22 publications receiving 1993 citations. Previous affiliations of Nadja van Ginneken include University of London.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the current state of human resources for mental health, needs, and strategies for action are reviewed, and the authors also discuss scale-up costs, human resources management, and leadership for Mental Health, particularly within the context of low-income and middle-income countries.

621 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: In this article, the current state of human resources for mental health, needs, and strategies for action are reviewed, and the authors discuss scale-up costs, human resources management, and leadership of mental health in low-income and middle-income countries.

555 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The review shows that the use of NSHWs, compared with usual healthcare services, may increase the number of adults who recover from depression or anxiety, or both, two to six months after treatment, and may decrease the amount of alcohol consumed by people with alcohol-use disorders.
Abstract: Background: In developing countries, most people with mental, neurological and substance-abuse (MNS) disorders do not receive adequate care mainly because of a lack of mental health professionals. Non-specialist health workers, but also other professionals with health roles, such as teachers, may therefore have an important role to play in delivering MNS health care. Researchers in The Cochrane Collaboration carried out a review of the effects of using non-specialist health workers or other professionals with health roles to help people with MNS disorders in developing countries. After searching for all relevant studies in scientific databases, they found 38 studies published before October 2012. Their findings are summarised below. What is a non-specialist health worker? Any type of health worker (like a doctor, nurse or lay health worker) who is not a specialist in mental health or neurology but who may have had some training in these fields. We also looked at teachers, as they can be particularly important in the care of children and youths. What the research says: The studies in this review were from 22 developing countries. In most studies, lay health workers delivered the mental health care, and addressed depression or anxiety (or both), or post-traumatic stress disorder. The review shows that the use of non-specialist health workers, compared with usual healthcare services: · may increase the number of adults who recover from depression or anxiety (or both) two to six months after treatment; · may slightly reduce symptoms formothers with depression; · may slightly reduce the symptoms of adults with post-traumatic stress disorder (non-specialists and teachers were used in one study); · probably slightly improves the symptoms of people with dementia; · probably improves/slightly improves the mental well-being, burden and distress of carers of people with dementia; · may decrease the quantity of alcohol consumed by problem drinkers. It is uncertain whether lay health workers or teachers reducepost-traumatic stress disorder symptoms among children. There were too few studies to draw any conclusions about the cost-effectiveness of using non-specialist health workers or teachers, or about their impact on people with other MNS conditions such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, and alcohol and drug abuse problems. In addition, very few studies measured unintended consequences of non-specialist health worker-led care - such effects could impact on the appropriateness and quality of care. Quality of the evidence: Overall, non-specialist health workers and teachers have some promising benefits in improving people's outcomes for general and perinatal depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol-use disorders, and patient and carer outcomes for dementia. However, this evidence is of low or very low quality in some areas, and for some issues no evidence is available. Therefore, we cannot make conclusions about which specific interventions using non-specialist health workers to help people with MNS disorders are more effective.

417 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The limited evidence base suggests that peers may have a small additional impact on patient’s outcomes, in comparison to standard psychiatric care in high-income settings.
Abstract: Purpose To evaluate the effectiveness of peer-delivered interventions in improving clinical and psychosocial outcomes among individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) or depression.

155 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The study suggests that 1970s–1990s CHW programmes were seen as innovative, responsive, comprehensive and empowering for staff and communities, a focus which respondents felt was lost within current programmes.

109 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is of major importance that action is taken to improve the conditions of everyday life, beginning before birth and progressing into early childhood, older childhood and adolescence, during family building and working ages, and through to older age, to reduce inequalities in physical health and improve health overall.
Abstract: A person's mental health and many common mental disorders are shaped by various social, economic, and physical environments operating at different stages of life. Risk factors for many common mental disorders are heavily associated with social inequalities, whereby the greater the inequality the higher the inequality in risk. The poor and disadvantaged suffer disproportionately, but those in the middle of the social gradient are also affected. It is of major importance that action is taken to improve the conditions of everyday life, beginning before birth and progressing into early childhood, older childhood and adolescence, during family building and working ages, and through to older age. Action throughout these life stages would provide opportunities for both improving population mental health, and for reducing risk of those mental disorders that are associated with social inequalities. As mental disorders are fundamentally linked to a number of other physical health conditions, these actions would also reduce inequalities in physical health and improve health overall. Action needs to be universal: across the whole of society and proportionate to need. Policy-making at all levels of governance and across sectors can make a positive difference.

768 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper examined the social and legal conditions in which many transgender people (often called trans people) live, and the medical perspectives that frame the provision of health care for transgender people across much of the world.

623 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Evidence indicates that CHWs can contribute to reducing the disease burden by participating in the management of hypertension, in the reduction of cardiovascular risk factors, in diabetes control, inThe management of HIV infection, and in cancer screening, particularly with hard-to-reach subpopulations.
Abstract: Over the past half-century, community health workers (CHWs) have been a growing force for extending health care and improving the health of populations. Following their introduction in the 1970s, many large-scale CHW programs declined during the 1980s, but CHW programs throughout the world more recently have seen marked growth. Research and evaluations conducted predominantly during the past two decades offer compelling evidence that CHWs are critical for helping health systems achieve their potential, regardless of a country's level of development. In low-income countries, CHWs can make major improvements in health priority areas, including reducing childhood undernutrition, improving maternal and child health, expanding access to family-planning services, and contributing to the control of HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis infections. In many middle-income countries, most notably Brazil, CHWs are key members of the health team and essential for the provision of primary health care and health promotion. In the United States, evidence indicates that CHWs can contribute to reducing the disease burden by participating in the management of hypertension, in the reduction of cardiovascular risk factors, in diabetes control, in the management of HIV infection, and in cancer screening, particularly with hard-to-reach subpopulations. This review highlights the history of CHW programs around the world and their growing importance in achieving health for all.

598 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The goal is to massively increase opportunities for people with MNS disorders to access services without the prospect of discrimination or impoverishment and with the hope of attaining optimal health and social outcomes.

584 citations