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General
Global Mental Health
Course Code: PUGLOMH16AAIM:
This course aims to provide an introduction to the public health importance of mental health in the global context with wide reference to low- and middle-income countries.
OBJECTIVES:
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
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Appreciate basic concepts of mental illness such as what mental illness is; classification systems for mental illness and the major types of mental disorders;
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Appreciate the influence of the social determinants of health; poverty, ethnicity, cultural factors, socio-economic factors and stigma on mental health;
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Explain the public health significance of mental illness and analyze issues pertaining to epidemiology and the global disease burden of mental illness;
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Gain understanding of particular contexts of relevance to the psychological health of communities within LMIC’s such as disaster situations, conflict and rural mental health;
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Understand the need for integration of mental health and development goals;
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Describe the gaps in mental health resources, treatment and research in your country and discuss strategies to address these gaps;
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Apply an evidence-based approach to considering interventions aimed at improving mental health;
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Design a public health intervention plan to improve the mental health of your community.
COURSE BIO:
Welcome to this course module. This is a much neglected topic that deserves a lot more public health attention than it currently receives due to the huge degree of psychiatric morbidity, disability and mortality incurred worldwide. Mental health issues universally concentrate amongst the poor and disadvantaged, as well as a strong gender bias towards women. There is much more that needs to be done to improve the lives and outcomes of those people who develop mental illness. The module aims to help you understand some of the risk factors, and size of the burden of mental illness and think about policies and interventions that can help tackle this neglected public health issue. By the end students will be armed to appraise the evidence base required to plan interventions to reduce the impact of mental illness.
Timetable and the tutors
Module Leader: Sarah Carney
Global Health Module Dates Facilitator Topic 1 March 21st – April 3rd Sarah Carney Topic 2 April 4th – April 17th Tiago Inacio Topic 3 April 25th – May 8th Claire Niedzwiedz Topic 4 May 9th – May 22nd Musa Sami Topic 5 May 23rd – June 5th
Assignment due June 27th 2016Sarah Carney -
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Global Mental Health Homepage
This course provides information related to mental health in the context of low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), specifically, related risk factors, the burden of mental illness, the impact of substance abuse on mental health, and effective policies and interventions that can improve health. By the end of this course, students will be prepared to work as part of a team to plan interventions to reduce the impact of mental illness within a population.
The Global Health course is sponsored by the Annenberg Physician Training Program. Like all NextGenU.org courses, it is competency-based; competencies were developed in collaboration with global health and public health subject matter experts, and take into consideration the mapping of key competencies required by the public health wider workforce to contribute to public health priority by the NHS Health Scotland and the New Global Health Concentration Competencies for the Master of Public Health (MPH) Degree from the Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health.
The course uses learning resources from accredited, world-class organizations such as the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, and the World Health Organization. The course was designed by Hugo Rojas, MD, MSc; Margaret Niles, PhD, MEd, DipID ; Valeria Reynolds, MD, MPH; Juan Jose Pemintel, MD; and Pablo Baldiviezo, MD.
For publications on NextGenU.org’s courses’ efficacy, see “A Novel Integration of Online and Flipped Classroom Instructional Models in Public Health Higher Education,” (2014), BMC Medical Education, “Building Public Health Capacity through Online Global Learning,” (2018), Open Praxis, or on NextGenU.org’s publication page. Subscribe to our newsletter to be notified of future updates, new courses, and to be part of our community.
There are four (4) modules to complete, which include:
- Module 1: Introduction to Global Mental Health
- Module 2: Epidemiology of Mental Health Conditions
- Module 3: Substance Abuse and Mental Health
- Module 4: Evidence-Based Interventions
The completion time for this course is estimated to be 86 hours which includes 50 hours of didactics and curated resources and 36 hours of work participating in activities and quizzes to assist the student in the synthesis of the materials. This course is equivalent to 2 credit hours.
Upon completion of the training (4 modules), participants will need to complete a Final Exam. Participants have up to three opportunities to take the final exam and achieve the required score of >=70%.
For students undergoing the Public Health U Masters’ Level Program, the course will have an extra 3000-word essay, with a completion time of 126 hours, 50 hours of didactics and curated resources and 76 hours of work. This course is equivalent to 3 credit hours.
At the end of each lesson, there is a 20 minutes practice quiz of ten multiple-choice questions. At the end of the course, after you’ve completed each lesson, quiz, and learning activity, you’ll have access to a 1 hour and 20 minutes final exam of forty multiple-choice questions, and a chance to evaluate this course. Once you’ve passed that last test, you will be able to download a certificate of completion from NextGenU.org and our course’s co-sponsoring organizations (listed above). We keep all of your personal information confidential, never sell any of your information, and only use anonymized data for research purposes, and we are also happy to report your testing information and share your work with anyone (your school, employer, etc.) at your request.
Engaging with this Course:
You may browse this course for free to learn for your personal enrichment; there are no requirements. To register for this course, it is required that learners have obtained a college-level/bachelor's degree.
To obtain a certificate, a learner must successfully complete:
- all the reading requirements,
- all quizzes and pass with 70% having unlimited attempts,
- all case studies,
- activity simulation,
- the final exam with a minimum of 70% and a maximum of 3 attempts, and
- the self and course evaluation forms.
NextGenU.org is happy to provide your institution with
- a link to and description of the course training, so they can see all its components, including the cosponsoring universities and other professional organization cosponsors;
- your grade on the final exam;
- your work products (e.g. case study activities), and any other required or optional shared materials that you produce and authorize to share with them;
- your evaluations -- course, and self-assessments;
- a copy of your certificate of completion, with the co-sponsoring universities and other organizations listed.
To obtain a degree, NextGenU.org co-sponsors degree programs with institutional partners. To obtain a full degree co-sponsored with NextGenU.org, registrants must be enrolled in a degree program as a student of a NextGenU.org institutional partner. If you think that your institution might be interested in offering a degree with NextGenU.org contact us.
We hope that you will find this a rewarding learning experience, and we count on your assessment and feedback to help us improve this training for future students.
Here are the next steps to take the course for credit:
- Complete the registration form.
- Take the pre-test.
- Begin the course with Module One. In each lesson, read the description, complete all required readings and any required activity, and take the corresponding quizzes.
This course meets nationally approved standards of education developed for the addiction/substance use disorders counseling profession. This course's participants are assured that the continuing education (CE) credits provided will be accepted toward national credentialing by the NAADAC Certification Commission for Addiction Professionals (NCC AP), as well as by many of the individual state licensing/certification bodies in the addiction and other helping professions.
*This course is sponsored in part by the Annenberg Physician Training Program: Abstinence-based Recovery from Addictive Disease. -
Module 1: Introduction to Global Mental Health
Competencies covered in this module:
- Illustrate the basic concepts of mental health and mental illness as a holistic concept, the gaps in mental health provision and resources, and its interrelatedness with sustainable development goals.
- Illustrate the basic concepts of mental health and mental illness as a holistic concept, the gaps in mental health provision and resources, and its interrelatedness with sustainable development goals.
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Module 1: Lesson 1: Basic Concepts and Objectives of Global Mental Health
Learning Objectives:
- Recall the definition of mental health and mental health disorders.
- Describe the interrelatedness of mental health with physical health.
- Understand the impact of an individual's mental health on their inner circle.
1 Page, 7 URLs - Recall the definition of mental health and mental health disorders.
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Module 1: Lesson 2: Overview of Mental Health Disorders Towards Accomplishing the Sustainable Development Goals
Learning Objectives:
- Outline the approach to diagnosis and classification of mental disorders.
- Evaluate the strategies currently implemented in your country to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to mental health.
2 URLs, 1 Forum - Outline the approach to diagnosis and classification of mental disorders.
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Module 2: Epidemiology of Mental Health Conditions
Competencies covered in this module:
- Analyze the risk and protective factors of mental health, including social inequalities, the impact of mental health on the global burden of disease, and addressing vulnerability with an ethical approach.
- Analyze the risk and protective factors of mental health, including social inequalities, the impact of mental health on the global burden of disease, and addressing vulnerability with an ethical approach.
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Module 2: Lesson 1: Influence of Risk Factors on Global Mental Health
Learning Objectives:
- Outline potential risk and protective factors associated with mental health.
- Illustrate the core social determinants of mental health at the individual and population levels.
1 Page, 5 URLs - Outline potential risk and protective factors associated with mental health.
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Module 2: Lesson 2: Vulnerability to mental health disorders
Learning Objectives:
- Contrast the impact of vulnerability in various mental or substance use disorders.
5 URLs, 1 Forum - Contrast the impact of vulnerability in various mental or substance use disorders.
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Module 2: Lesson 3: Global mental health disorders in an epidemiological context
Learning Objectives:
- Characterize mental disorders from an epidemiological approach.
- Examine the mental health epidemiology profile of your country.
5 URLs, 1 Forum - Characterize mental disorders from an epidemiological approach.
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Module 3: Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Competencies covered in this module:
- Determine the burden that substance abuse can inflict on mental well-being, its social repercussions, and the application of communication in reducing discrimination.
- Determine the burden that substance abuse can inflict on mental well-being, its social repercussions, and the application of communication in reducing discrimination.
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Module 3: Lesson 1: The Influence of Substance Abuse Disorders in Global Mental Health
Learning Objectives:
- Illustrate the relationship between substance use dependence and mental health disorders.
- Discuss the social repercussions that can affect populations with substance use and mental disorders.
1 Page, 4 URLs, 1 Forum - Illustrate the relationship between substance use dependence and mental health disorders.
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Module 3: Lesson 2: Screening and Treatment Programs
Learning Objectives:
- Outline the screening and treatment strategies for substance abuse in the context of mental health disorders.
1 URL -
Module 3: Lesson 3: Role of Advocacy in Substance Abuse on Mental Health
Learning Objectives:
- Design an educational tool to raise awareness of the impact of substance abuse on mental health.
1 URL, 1 Forum - Design an educational tool to raise awareness of the impact of substance abuse on mental health.
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Module 4: Evidence-based Intervention
Competencies covered in this module:
- Demonstrate critical awareness of the engagement with mhGAP evidence-based intervention framework to discuss strategies to implement and monitor an intervention.
- Synthesize knowledge and experience to develop a sustainable plan for implementing an intervention that includes a support program to tackle a mental illness issue of public health significance.
- Demonstrate critical awareness of the engagement with mhGAP evidence-based intervention framework to discuss strategies to implement and monitor an intervention.
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Module 4: Lesson 1: Planning Interventions Based on Recognized Guidelines
Learning Objectives:
- Identify the objectives to attain according to the mental health action programme.
- Outline the principles for essential care and practice in relation to mental, neurological, and substance use disorders.
- Assess the community mental health services framework with regards to community needs and access.
1 Page, 3 URLs, 1 Forum - Identify the objectives to attain according to the mental health action programme.
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Module 4: Lesson 2: Implementing Mental Health Interventions
Learning Objectives:
- Distinguish the social and economic barriers to implement policies or practices in your setting.
- Describe workforce development strategies to improve mental health care in low and middle-income countries.
- Create an evidence-based intervention to improve mental health care in your country/region.
5 URLs, 1 Forum -
Course and Self Evaluation & Certificate
In this section, you can provide feedback about this course to help us make NextGenU.org better. Once evaluations are completed, you will be able to download your certificate of completion.