Global Mental Health Short Course II

The five days second Global Mental Health Course on “Global Mental Health Assessment and Measurement: Best Practices and New Directions” was successfully conducted from July 31, 2023, to August 4, 2023, to address the growing recognition of the need for culturally adapted and validated tools to study mental health across cultures and contexts. The course was inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Dibya Singh Shah, Dean, Institute of Medicine, TUTH Dr. Kamal Gautam, Executive Director, TPO Nepal, Dr. Brandon Kohrt, George Washington University, Dr. Saroj Prasad Ojha, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Institute of Medicine, TUTH, and Prof. Dr. Mita Rana, Department. of Psychiatry & Mental Health, Institute of Medicine, TUTH. The course was conducted on the premises of the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Institute of Medicine, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, with the facilitation of representatives from TPO Nepal, George Washington University, and the TU Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health.

Out of 113 applicants from diverse backgrounds, 17 were selected as participants for the second Global Mental Health short course. They were from MD psychiatry, clinical psychology, public health, and psychiatry nursing faculties, all enrolled and completed post-graduate degrees. Among them, 11 were female early career researchers, and 6 were males. The objectives of the short course were to disseminate a better understanding of why transcultural translation, adaptation, and validation are needed and to better interpret the scientific rigor of tools used in global mental health research. Topics such as transcultural translation and adaptation of psychometric tools, involvement of people with lived experiences (PWLEs) in measurement, innovative strategies in measurement and psychometric analyses, and validation with structured clinical tools were covered in the course.