MHAT ocuses on service delivery to specific marginalized groups such as Adivasi communities and fisherfolk

Partners

Mental Health Action Trust (MHAT)

MHAT’s work began by building on models of community palliative care to innovate for decentralized, community-owned, and community-led care models for mental health, serving economically marginalized individuals in Kerala. The first such program began in 2008 and the initial local partners were the various community-based palliative care centres in North Kerala. Later on, more diverse partnerships with entities such as government community health centres, other NGOs, and hospitals were established. Presently, MHAT focuses on service delivery to specific marginalized groups such as Adivasi communities and fisherfolk.

People with severe mental health issues are among the first to be over-medicalized and institutionalized, which denies them several rights, such as the right to live integrated lives in their communities. Most of the existing services are in the private sector and in urban centres, effectively making access difficult for vast swathes of the population.

MHAT’s model decentralises mental health care and deviates from the widely prevalent hospital-based psychiatry model, with the engaged support work of trained community volunteers existing in tandem with the MHAT clinical team. Such a model ensures not only sustainability and cost-effectiveness, but also works to de-stigmatize mental health, since mental health services are availed from centres where other services are already being accessed by the community. Embedding this care free of cost in the community also ensures regular follow-up in a context where financial constraints often lead to intermittent care.

Project with MHI

MHI partners with MHAT for ongoing support to their 46 community partnerships across eight districts in Kerala, and for scaling up 15 community-based programs with the Adivasi communities and coastal fisher communities in a few districts of Kerala.