According to data released by the Health Ministry on Thursday (October 10, 2024), an overview of the type of complaints on the helpline shows that the top four complaints here relate to sleep disturbances (14%), sadness of mood (14%), stress (11%) and anxiety (9%).
The Union Territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry will soon be covered under the National Tele Mental Health Programme of India and offer Tele MANAS service. Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States or Tele MANAS, which was started in 2022, seeks to function as a comprehensive, integrated, and inclusive 24×7 tele-mental health facility.
According to data released by the Health Ministry on Thursday (October 10, 2024), an overview of the type of complaints on the helpline shows that the top four complaints here relate to sleep disturbances (14%), sadness of mood (14%), stress (11%) and anxiety (9%).
Currently, Tele MANAS services are available across 34 States/Union Territories in 20 languages. The Ministry added that in a span of one year now the programme has received over 3,51,454 calls on its helpline.
Analysis of Tele MANAS users shows that most of the callers on the helpline are male (56.15%) and aged 18 to 45 years (71.5%). Most callers (70.75%) seek advice regarding their own mental health while 18.4% of callers are caregivers, calling on behalf of someone else. Of the total calls, 93% received on Tele MANAS helpline are classified as routine calls, 3.49% of calls are classified as emergency and escalated to a mental health specialist. Overall, less than 3% of total complaints have been identified as suicide-related cases. Additionally, 2.2% of calls were prank calls.
Globally, Tele MANAS is one of the largest deployments of a digital, phone-based mental health initiative in a country. “Privacy considerations are threaded into the platform’s operation,” said the report adding these measures have been incorporated at various levels, including data storage, access controls, and caller-specific protocols.
The programme comprises a network of 23 tele-mental health centres of excellence, with National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) as the nodal centre. The International Institute of Information Technology-Bengaluru (IIIT-B) works closely with NIMHANS and offers technological support and leading on IT architecture. The National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC) provides technical support and leads on the health systems domain.
Specific recommendations across key thematic areas as per the report include — support and strengthening of the Tele MANAS workforce through workplace enhancement for improved service delivery, human resource planning and recruitment and human resource management and augmenting service delivery through strengthening triage. It has also recommended knowledge sharing through development of national case study on Tele MANAS programme, introduction of exchange programmes to facilitate sharing within the country as well as to share learning and innovations globally.
Published – October 11, 2024 01:49 am IST
