A preliminary study of educational intervention program for alternative mental health practitioners

Objective: This paper is based on an original doctoral study on the subject of ethnopsychiatry, which looked into the aspects of comparative management by the psychiatrists and ethnotherapists in relation to mental illness. It emerged that the ethnotherapeutic treatment was beneficial in some aspects but hazardous in many others. It was decided to conduct a training program for selected ethnotherapists with the aim of bringing a change in their practice whereby they could understand the theoretical background of mental illness, act as psychotherapists and refrain from hazardous practice. Design: A selected group of ethnotherapists was included in the study on the basis of convenience sampling and were given the educational package which followed the periodical review of the impact of training on their resultant practice. Place and Duration: The study was conducted in Karachi for a duration of 12 months. Results: The educational intervention program demonstrated beneficial outcome as the practice of the members of the study group improved and they refrained from hazardous practice. Conclusion: It was concluded that with suitable training, the ethnotherapists can collaborate effectively with the mental health practitioners, thus, becoming helpful in strengthening the existing mental health services.