Lessons from scaling up a depression treatment program in primary care in Chile

Datos Bibliográficos

ID14965161
AutoresRicardo Araya (0000-0002-0420-5148, University of Bristol, autor de correspondencia), R Alvarado (0000-0002-8091-0324, University of Chile), Rodrigo Sepúlveda (0000-0002-9618-3686, University of Chile), Graciela Rojas (0000-0002-9577-7415, University of Chile)
Año2012
Volumen32
Número3
Páginas234-240
Fecha de publicación2012-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaRevista Panamericana de Salud Pública (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1020-4989 • E-ISSN: 1680-5348
EditorialFapUNIFESP (SciELO) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1590/s1020-49892012000900009
PMID23183564
OpenAlexW2118777335
SCIELO_PIDS1020-49892012000900009
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9
Referencias citadas7

In Chile, the National Depression Detection and Treatment Program (Programa Nacional de Diagnóstico y Tratamiento de la Depresión, PNDTD) in primary care is a rare example of an evidence-based mental health program that was scaled up to the national level in a low- or middle-income country. This retrospective qualitative study aimed to better understand how policymakers made the decision to scale up mental health services to the national level, and to explore the elements, contexts, and processes that facilitated the decision to implement and sustain PNDTD. In-depth semistructured interviews with six key informants selected through intentional sampling were conducted in August-December 2008. Interviewees were senior officers at the Ministry of Health who were directly involved in the decision to scale up the program. Results yielded four elements pivotal to the decisionmaking process: scientific evidence, teamwork and leadership, strategic alliances, and program institutionalization. Each element contributed to building consensus, securing funding, attracting resources, and gaining lasting support from policymakers. Additionally, a review of available documentation led the authors to consider sociopolitical context and use of the media to be important factors. While research evidence for the effectiveness of mental health services in the primary care setting continues to accumulate, low- and middle-income countries should get started on the lengthy process of scaling up by incorporating the elements that led to decisionmaking and implementation of the PNDTD in Chile

Context (archaeology · Documentation · Health care · Institutionalisation · Mental health · Political science · Psychiatry · Public relations · Scale (ratio · Teamwork · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Community Health and Development · Medicine · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Nursing · Psychology