In November 2018, NIMHANS in collaboration with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and WHO, India conducted the ‘Training of Trainers (TOT) Workshop for Community Health Workers’ as a part of strengthening the National Mental Health Program (NMHP). One Mental Health Professional (MHP) working under the NMHP was nominated from each state across the country and were trained on ‘How to Train Community Health Workers in identifying and addressing Mental Illnesses in the community’. As a part of the program, the MHPs underwent Gate-Keeper Training (GKT) which is depicted in the figure below.

Dr. Santhosh Kumar, Post-Doctoral Fellow in Emergency Psychiatry and Acute Care (EPAC) interacting with the NMHP staffs at the workshop.

A series of Workshops under ‘Sensitization on Mental Health Leadership for Maharashtra Under NMHP’ was conducted by NIMHANS in collaboration with the Government of Maharashtra from March to July 2019. The workshop was inclusive of scientific sessions on ‘Suicide Prevention’ addressing the increasing trend of farmers’ suicide in the state. The EPAC team conducted the GKT program for the delegates which is shown in the figure blow. 

Dr. Senthil Kumar Reddi, Consultant – EPAC, addressing the delegates on preventing suicide in farmers