Barriers to mental health treatment in primary care practice in low- and middle-income countries in a post-covid era: A systematic review

General primary care workers and family physicians are a crucial work force in managing the mental health of people in any given region. However, the barriers they face in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) may be worsened by the pandemic. This review aims to bring together evidence about ment...

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Main Authors: Sahar Rameez, Almas Nasir
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2023-08-01
Series:Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_391_22
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author Sahar Rameez
Almas Nasir
author_facet Sahar Rameez
Almas Nasir
author_sort Sahar Rameez
collection DOAJ
description General primary care workers and family physicians are a crucial work force in managing the mental health of people in any given region. However, the barriers they face in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) may be worsened by the pandemic. This review aims to bring together evidence about mental health treatment challenges experienced by people in LMICs in primary care settings. The review focuses on the shortage of essential mental healthcare services, stigma and lack of competent primary care professionals in establishing these services and their importance in the COVID-19 pandemic context. The systematic review adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, and the search strategy included keyword search terms (MeSH) to perform a search across three electronic databases - Critical Appraisal Skills Program assessed PubMed, SpringerLink, and Cochrane and quality of the articles. The articles selected were analyzed through thematic analysis to identify the main themes and conclude our findings. Findings indicate that out of 1792 publications found, 14 studies matched the desired criteria for the studies. Endnotes, database search filters, and Covidence data extraction tools were used to generate the relevant articles in this study. This study shows that primary care institutions have financial and management issues in providing mental health services and a shortage of competent mental health experts in primary care, especially mental health–trained family physicians. The study also identifies community stigma as the most prevalent barrier to seeking mental health therapy, reflecting the lack of community health education in LMICs.
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spelling doaj-art-26fa6b02acf74ec8bffffb38f93f47bc2024-11-11T11:10:44ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Family Medicine and Primary Care2249-48632278-71352023-08-011281485150410.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_391_22Barriers to mental health treatment in primary care practice in low- and middle-income countries in a post-covid era: A systematic reviewSahar RameezAlmas NasirGeneral primary care workers and family physicians are a crucial work force in managing the mental health of people in any given region. However, the barriers they face in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) may be worsened by the pandemic. This review aims to bring together evidence about mental health treatment challenges experienced by people in LMICs in primary care settings. The review focuses on the shortage of essential mental healthcare services, stigma and lack of competent primary care professionals in establishing these services and their importance in the COVID-19 pandemic context. The systematic review adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, and the search strategy included keyword search terms (MeSH) to perform a search across three electronic databases - Critical Appraisal Skills Program assessed PubMed, SpringerLink, and Cochrane and quality of the articles. The articles selected were analyzed through thematic analysis to identify the main themes and conclude our findings. Findings indicate that out of 1792 publications found, 14 studies matched the desired criteria for the studies. Endnotes, database search filters, and Covidence data extraction tools were used to generate the relevant articles in this study. This study shows that primary care institutions have financial and management issues in providing mental health services and a shortage of competent mental health experts in primary care, especially mental health–trained family physicians. The study also identifies community stigma as the most prevalent barrier to seeking mental health therapy, reflecting the lack of community health education in LMICs.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_391_22covid-19mental healthprimary care
spellingShingle Sahar Rameez
Almas Nasir
Barriers to mental health treatment in primary care practice in low- and middle-income countries in a post-covid era: A systematic review
Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care
covid-19
mental health
primary care
title Barriers to mental health treatment in primary care practice in low- and middle-income countries in a post-covid era: A systematic review
title_full Barriers to mental health treatment in primary care practice in low- and middle-income countries in a post-covid era: A systematic review
title_fullStr Barriers to mental health treatment in primary care practice in low- and middle-income countries in a post-covid era: A systematic review
title_full_unstemmed Barriers to mental health treatment in primary care practice in low- and middle-income countries in a post-covid era: A systematic review
title_short Barriers to mental health treatment in primary care practice in low- and middle-income countries in a post-covid era: A systematic review
title_sort barriers to mental health treatment in primary care practice in low and middle income countries in a post covid era a systematic review
topic covid-19
mental health
primary care
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_391_22
work_keys_str_mv AT saharrameez barrierstomentalhealthtreatmentinprimarycarepracticeinlowandmiddleincomecountriesinapostcovideraasystematicreview
AT almasnasir barrierstomentalhealthtreatmentinprimarycarepracticeinlowandmiddleincomecountriesinapostcovideraasystematicreview