NHTC Module-2 training for Primary Health Care Workers

Five days of NHTC Module-2 training on mental health and two days of research and evaluation were conducted by TPO Nepal at Pokhara from 1 to 7 August 2021. Nine health workers from different health facilities of the Kaski and Parbat districts participated in the training. The training session was facilitated by Dr. Dhirendra Poudel, a Psychiatrist at Dhaulagiri Zonal Hospital, and Dr. Ravi Raj Timalsina, a Psychiatrist at Gandaki Hospital. Similarly, Ms. Sabitra Sharma, clinical supervisor/Trainer at TPO Nepal, facilitated the psychosocial sessions.

The main objective of the training was to train the primary health care workers on mental health, based on the National Health Training Center (NHTC) module 2-Mental Health Training for Medical Officers and Health Assistants. The training started with the welcome speech of Mani Neupane, the Implementation coordinator of TPO Pokhara.  Khim Bahadur Khadka, Health Director of Kaski and guest speaker of the training, asked the participants about their expectations. Most of the participants stated the timely availability of medicine as their expectation. Mr. Khim Bahadur Khadka assured them that he would do his best to ensure availability. Besides, he requested the participants to learn well from the training and encouraged them to focus on counseling and follow-up.

The monitoring and evaluation of the training program were conducted by Ramesh Prasad Adhikari, Director of the Health Training Center, Gandaki Province. To ensure the effectiveness of the training, a pre-test, and post-test survey was conducted. The sessions were interactive and ample opportunities were provided to the participants to learn such as role-play, group activity/ discussion, and presentation. Each day, the training concluded with a reflection meeting among the TPO staff and the trainer.