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-: Psychiatry Department :-

 

The Psychiatry Department in Padhar hospital is currently the first and only full time mental health facility in the area between Nagpur and Bhopal, an area of nearly 400 km. Psychiatry services at the hospital include evaluations, diagnosis and treatments for patients with psychiatric disorders – both in outpatient and inpatient settings – and also consultation services for patients referred from other departments in the hospital.

 

Apart from this, the department also runs a Community Mental Health project (Project “Shifa”) which provides psychiatric evaluations and treatments

 

for free or minimum cost in the community setting covering a target area of 75 predominantly tribal villages surrounding Padhar. The department engages in activities to build awareness of mental health issues in the community, and also conducts research activities to improve community-level mental health service provision in rural areas.

 

Psychiatric services provided at Padhar hospital include 

  • Treatment of Stress related disorders

  • Treatment of Depression, Anxiety disorders and suicidal patients

  • Alcohol and substance detoxification and de-addiction services

  • Treatment of Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder and other severe psychiatric disorders

  • Management of Developmental disorders (including Mental Retardation and Autism)

  • Management of Childhood behavioural disorders

  • Treatment of Epilepsy/Seizures

  • Treatment of Migraines and other headache syndromes

  • Evaluation and treatment of Sexual dysfunction

  • Psychotherapy and counseling services – both for individual and family

  • ECT (Electro-convulsive therapy)

 

Project “Shifa” (the Community Mental Health Project):

 

Project ‘Shifa’, the Community Mental Health (CMH) project at Padhar Hospital is a project designed to screen, identify and facilitate treatment and community re-integration of patients with mental illnesses and epilepsy in a specified target area of 75 poverty-stricken villages within a radius of approximately 30 km around Padhar Hospital. It is currently running on a limited budget financed entirely by personal donations from well-wishers. The team consists of the consultant psychiatrist, a project office coordinator, ten community field workers and nursing students posted in the department of psychiatry on rotation.

 

The project activities include:

 

  • Building awareness of mental health issues and epilepsy in the target community

  • Door-to-door screening by field workers using a specially designed screening tool, the Padhar Community Mental Health Screening Instrument (PaCoMSI)

  • Weekly outreach clinics (on Wednesdays) by the team including the consultant psychiatrist in selected village settings (including house visits when needed)

  • Provision of free medications on site for patients with severe mental illnesses (eg. Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, severe depression etc) and epilepsy

  • Referral of patients with less severe mental health issues (eg. milder depression, anxiety disorders, substance dependence etc) to Padhar hospital for more pharmacological and/or psychotherapeutic interventions or consultations with other departments

  • Group Therapy sessions for selected patients and families in the community setting

  • Fostering community re-integration of patients and their families in the field

  • Facilitating practical community-based research to improve methodology of rural mental health service provision

  • A mechanism to follow up patients receiving medications in the field on a regular basis at their homes (twice a month).

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