Mental health screenings for couples at churches in Nigeria: a strategy for enhancing community-based maternal mental health services in low-resource settings

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2015 Mar;50(3):497-9. doi: 10.1007/s00127-014-0988-8. Epub 2014 Nov 20.

Abstract

The burden of perinatal mental disorders among women in low- and middle-income countries is substantial. The current integration of mental health into maternal, neonatal and child health service platforms is limited, despite global calls to prioritize such service integration. The study by Iheanacho and colleagues (2014) entitled "Integrating mental health screening into routine community maternal and child health activity: experience from a prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) trial in Nigeria" provides promising evidence about the feasibility of a church-based strategy for screening pregnant women and their partners for mental health problems through a PMTCT program.

Publication types

  • Comment

MeSH terms

  • Community Health Services*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mass Screening / methods*
  • Mental Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Pregnancy