Makanjuola V., Doku V., Jenkins R., Gureje O.
Department of Psychiatry, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria; WHO Collaborating Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom; Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom
Makanjuola, V., Department of Psychiatry, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria; Doku, V., Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom; Jenkins, R., WHO Collaborating Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom; Gureje, O., Department of Psychiatry, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria
Background: Like most low- and middle-income countries, Nigeria has a huge treatment gap for mental disorders. The World Health Organization has proposed the integration of mental health care into primary health service delivery as one of the ways to bridge this treatment gap. Studies have shown an immediate positive impact of mental health training for primary care workers. We evaluated the impact of training on the tutors of primary care workers approximately 12 months after the training. Method: Anintensive five-day training workshop for college teachers of mental health in community health officer (CHO) training institutions in south-west Nigeria was conducted in January 2009. Four of the 24 participants were randomly selected for evaluation of the impact of training on their activities approximately 12 months after the workshop. Qualitative methods were used, namely in-depth interviews, direct observation of classroom teaching by the participants and focus group discussion with their students. Results: The participants interviewed reported a positive impact of the 'training of trainers' (TOT) workshopontheir mental health course teaching. Direct observation of four participants revealed that three of them exhibited a high fidelity with the TOT course material and imbibed the teaching techniques advocated. The tutors' students also reported an improvement in the quality of their mental health classes. Conclusion: The training had an overall positive impact on the activities of the trainees approximately one year after the workshop. © 2012 Radcliffe Publishing.