Teams in seven developing countries under sponsorship of the World
Health Organization have been carrying out collaborative operational
research on providing mental health care through primary health care
services. New techniques of identifying mental disorders in children and
adults have been developed and tested. Methods of assessing the skills and
attitudes of health workers toward mental health work and of gauging
community attitudes toward mental illness have also been developed. Results
have been directly applied in planning better mental health care. The
authors conclude that cross-cultural collaborative research is effective in
improving mental health care for those in greatest need.Abstract Teaser