Projects undertaken by the Program in Global Mental Health and Social Change are linked to ongoing clinical, research and advocacy efforts in the Americas, Africa, and the Caribbean. Program objectives include:
- Supporting, monitoring, and evaluating community-based initiatives that integrate prevention, diagnosis, and management of mental health problems in coordination with other health services along the care spectrum, from the community to referral centers.
- Training medical students, physicians, and other healthcare professionals at in-country centers in partnership with Harvard University, in combined clinical and social medicine approaches to care.
- Training US-based and visiting healthcare professionals, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and medical students in research methods that will advance excellence in global mental healthcare delivery. Research projects emphasize evaluation of clinical assessment and diagnosis; implementation of evidence-based treatments; analysis of effectiveness and quality of care delivered; community participatory research by those engaged in devising, implementing, and adjusting policies and those directly responsible for delivery of care; and equity concerns at affiliated sites. Training programs are coordinated with existing fellowships, including the Fogarty International Mental Health Training Program for psychiatrists from Shanghai and Beijing, China.
- Describing, documenting, and understanding complex forces—social, political, and cultural—affecting mental health in the regions where we work.
- Investigating the potential links between global mental health care delivery strategies and platforms developed for noncommunicable and infectious diseases.