‘We still struggle to reach remote areas, secure funding’: Mpower’s Neerja Birla on mental healthcare challenges in India
Neerja Birla, a BSc in Psychology from University of Derby, is a firm believer of the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi that aims to look at the beauty in imperfection and transience.
- May 11, 2023,
- Updated May 11, 2023 9:30 AM IST
While India has seen a steady rise in mental health issues due to a combination of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has not been quick with the necessary mental health interventions, feels Neerja Birla, founder and Chairperson of Aditya Birla Education Trust (ABET). Under the ABET umbrella is Mpower, a social enterprise that aims to spread awareness, alleviate stigma, and provide holistic mental health care to the ones in need.
Neerja Birla, a BSc in Psychology from University of Derby, is a firm believer of the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi that aims to look at the beauty in imperfection and transience. Birla has, since the inception of Mpower seven years ago, sought to positively impact people with their “intervention services”.
“We have positively impacted over 20 million lives through clinical interventions, counseling, and other initiatives, working with diverse groups including Indian paramilitary forces, government institutions, law enforcement officials, frontline health workers, farmers, LGBTQIA+, doctors, community health workers, teachers, and students,” said Neerja Birla to Business Today.
The number in itself might be daunting but the task in hand is also not easy. In her advocacy for mental health, Birla said she has faced her fair share of challenges. For instance, the ratio of psychiatrist to people is skewed – there is one psychiatrist for every 343,000 people, she said. Psychologists and psychiatric social workers are in short supply in the country, she added.
“Stigma, limited awareness, and inadequate infrastructure, especially in rural areas are some of the challenges I have faced as a mental health advocate. We still struggle to reach remote areas and secure funding from corporates and private donors,” said Birla to Business Today.
Mpower’s initiative to assert the importance of mental health across the country is done through various awareness campaigns, seminars, and partnerships with the government and NGOs, apart from their intervention services.
Neerja Birla said that mental health concerns are widespread in both rural and urban areas, but each region faces its own set of distinct challenges. In rural areas there is limited awareness and high stigma, which hinders individuals from seeking help, compounded by the lack of mental health services, trained professionals and basic medical resources. Urban areas, on the other hand, have better mental health services but, here too, stigma and lack of awareness pose different challenges. Moreover affordable mental health services are hard to come by in urban areas.
Targeted campaigns, community engagement and partnerships with local NGOs and government agencies in rural areas, and increasing affordability and accessibility of mental healthcare, along with telemedicine and mobile health technologies in urban areas can go a long way in resolving these challenges.
Birla believes that another effective way to tackle mental health service issues in the country is through the public-private partnership (PPP) model that would combine private sector expertise with public sector reach. “Although the private sector possesses the majority of hospitals and doctors in India, they are primarily concentrated in urban areas. By partnering with the public sector, private sector expertise can extend to rural regions through initiatives like telemedicine,” said Birla.
e-Sanjeevani, for instance, enables remote consultations with specialists, thereby reducing the need for physical travel. Mpower too started a telephonic counseling for frontline workers who tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic.
Here’s where the government can chip in. Increasing funding and resources for the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP), launching awareness campaigns, integrating mental health with primary care, strengthening legal framework, utilising telemedicine for remote access, incentivising private sector investment are some of the ways the government can help too, said Birla.
But it is not to say that there has been no progress when it comes to mental health services in India. “The government is consciously improving its National Mental Health Programme by strengthening the legal environment, increasing budgetary provisions, providing policies and frameworks for managing mental health disorders and adopting a multi-sectoral and life-course approach,” she said.
She also highlighted Mpower’s contribution to the progress of mental health space. The firm has conducted over 1 lakh sessions, and increased its presence in the country through multiple centres in Pune, Bangalore, and Kolkata, Hyderabad, Kalyan, and BITS Pilani, Goa.
However, a more sure-shot way of getting the mental health space to evolve, said Birla, is by including psychology in school curriculums for a healthy, inclusive society. “Mental health education helps children recognize emotions, develop coping mechanisms, and reduce stigma. Initiatives like Oorja and Saksham have sensitized children and created safe spaces for mental health discussions. Integrating psychology into other subjects can teach life skills like emotional intelligence, empathy, and resilience. Despite challenges like needing trained professionals and infrastructure, with support and investment, mental health education can create a healthier, more inclusive society,” she pointed out.
Then there is the issue of limited seats in higher psychology studies, which also can be solved with measures like professional collaborations, allocation of adequate resources of mental health education, philanthropic support for mental health education, and destigmatising the study of mental health as a field and study.
Neerja Birla was appointed to the advisory board of mindfulness and meditation app, Headspace, but currently has no plans to roll out a similar app in India. Nevertheless, she believes that with awareness campaigns, proper education, encouraging dialogue, increased media representation, and anti-discrimination laws and policies can go a long way in creating a more healthy mental health ecosystem in the country.
Also read: MPW 2022: Neerja Birla, the champion campaigner for mental health awareness
While India has seen a steady rise in mental health issues due to a combination of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has not been quick with the necessary mental health interventions, feels Neerja Birla, founder and Chairperson of Aditya Birla Education Trust (ABET). Under the ABET umbrella is Mpower, a social enterprise that aims to spread awareness, alleviate stigma, and provide holistic mental health care to the ones in need.
Neerja Birla, a BSc in Psychology from University of Derby, is a firm believer of the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi that aims to look at the beauty in imperfection and transience. Birla has, since the inception of Mpower seven years ago, sought to positively impact people with their “intervention services”.
“We have positively impacted over 20 million lives through clinical interventions, counseling, and other initiatives, working with diverse groups including Indian paramilitary forces, government institutions, law enforcement officials, frontline health workers, farmers, LGBTQIA+, doctors, community health workers, teachers, and students,” said Neerja Birla to Business Today.
The number in itself might be daunting but the task in hand is also not easy. In her advocacy for mental health, Birla said she has faced her fair share of challenges. For instance, the ratio of psychiatrist to people is skewed – there is one psychiatrist for every 343,000 people, she said. Psychologists and psychiatric social workers are in short supply in the country, she added.
“Stigma, limited awareness, and inadequate infrastructure, especially in rural areas are some of the challenges I have faced as a mental health advocate. We still struggle to reach remote areas and secure funding from corporates and private donors,” said Birla to Business Today.
Mpower’s initiative to assert the importance of mental health across the country is done through various awareness campaigns, seminars, and partnerships with the government and NGOs, apart from their intervention services.
Neerja Birla said that mental health concerns are widespread in both rural and urban areas, but each region faces its own set of distinct challenges. In rural areas there is limited awareness and high stigma, which hinders individuals from seeking help, compounded by the lack of mental health services, trained professionals and basic medical resources. Urban areas, on the other hand, have better mental health services but, here too, stigma and lack of awareness pose different challenges. Moreover affordable mental health services are hard to come by in urban areas.
Targeted campaigns, community engagement and partnerships with local NGOs and government agencies in rural areas, and increasing affordability and accessibility of mental healthcare, along with telemedicine and mobile health technologies in urban areas can go a long way in resolving these challenges.
Birla believes that another effective way to tackle mental health service issues in the country is through the public-private partnership (PPP) model that would combine private sector expertise with public sector reach. “Although the private sector possesses the majority of hospitals and doctors in India, they are primarily concentrated in urban areas. By partnering with the public sector, private sector expertise can extend to rural regions through initiatives like telemedicine,” said Birla.
e-Sanjeevani, for instance, enables remote consultations with specialists, thereby reducing the need for physical travel. Mpower too started a telephonic counseling for frontline workers who tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic.
Here’s where the government can chip in. Increasing funding and resources for the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP), launching awareness campaigns, integrating mental health with primary care, strengthening legal framework, utilising telemedicine for remote access, incentivising private sector investment are some of the ways the government can help too, said Birla.
But it is not to say that there has been no progress when it comes to mental health services in India. “The government is consciously improving its National Mental Health Programme by strengthening the legal environment, increasing budgetary provisions, providing policies and frameworks for managing mental health disorders and adopting a multi-sectoral and life-course approach,” she said.
She also highlighted Mpower’s contribution to the progress of mental health space. The firm has conducted over 1 lakh sessions, and increased its presence in the country through multiple centres in Pune, Bangalore, and Kolkata, Hyderabad, Kalyan, and BITS Pilani, Goa.
However, a more sure-shot way of getting the mental health space to evolve, said Birla, is by including psychology in school curriculums for a healthy, inclusive society. “Mental health education helps children recognize emotions, develop coping mechanisms, and reduce stigma. Initiatives like Oorja and Saksham have sensitized children and created safe spaces for mental health discussions. Integrating psychology into other subjects can teach life skills like emotional intelligence, empathy, and resilience. Despite challenges like needing trained professionals and infrastructure, with support and investment, mental health education can create a healthier, more inclusive society,” she pointed out.
Then there is the issue of limited seats in higher psychology studies, which also can be solved with measures like professional collaborations, allocation of adequate resources of mental health education, philanthropic support for mental health education, and destigmatising the study of mental health as a field and study.
Neerja Birla was appointed to the advisory board of mindfulness and meditation app, Headspace, but currently has no plans to roll out a similar app in India. Nevertheless, she believes that with awareness campaigns, proper education, encouraging dialogue, increased media representation, and anti-discrimination laws and policies can go a long way in creating a more healthy mental health ecosystem in the country.
Also read: MPW 2022: Neerja Birla, the champion campaigner for mental health awareness