Advancing equitable access to digital mental health in the Asia-Pacific region in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: A modified Delphi consensus study.

The COVID-19 pandemic had an unprecedented impact on global mental health and well-being, including across the Asia-Pacific. Efforts to mitigate virus spread led to far-reaching disruption in the delivery of health and social services. In response, there was a rapid shift to the use of digital mental health (DMH) approaches.

An integrated knowledge translation (iKT) approach to advancing community-based depression care in Vietnam: lessons from an ongoing research-policy collaboration.

Background: Evidence-based mental health policies are key to supporting the expansion of community-based mental health care and are increasingly being developed in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite this, research on the process of mental health policy development in LMICs is limited. Engagement between researchers and policy makers via an integrated Knowledge Translation (iKT) approach can help to facilitate the process of evidence-based policy making.

Evaluating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a digital, app-based intervention for depression (VMood) in community-based settings in Vietnam: Protocol for a stepped-wedge randomized controlled trial.

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified mental health problems and highlighted inequitable gaps in care worldwide. In response there has been an explosion of digital interventions such as smartphone applications ("apps") to extend care. The objective of this trial is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a digital depression intervention (VMood), delivered via a smartphone app.

Towards a health promoting university: descriptive findings on health, wellbeing and academic performance amongst university students in Australia.

Background: Universities are increasingly recognised as institutions where health and wellbeing can be promoted to maximise academic outcomes, career transitions, and lifelong positive health behaviours. There is concern about the mental health of university students and other factors which affect academic outcomes particularly for subgroups such as international students. There are few cohort studies of the breadth of issues that can impact on mental health and academic outcomes for both local and international students.

Factors Associated With High Rates of Depressive Symptomatology in Older People in Vietnam.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the prevalence and correlates of depressive symptomatology among Vietnamese older people.

Method: We used baseline survey data collected in 2018 from the Longitudinal Study of Ageing and Health in Vietnam (LSAHV) conducted across seven regions and comprising 6,050 people aged 60 years and over of whom 4962 completed the brief 11-item Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale. Clinically significant depressive symptomatology was a CES-D score of 8.

Listening to the Shenzhen Primary Healthcare Context to Adapt the mhGAP-IG.v2 for the Assessment of Depression: Qualitative Workshops with Primary Healthcare Leaders.

In Shenzhen, despite recent primary and mental healthcare reform, Primary healthcare doctors (PHC) have limited access to diagnostic tools and a significant mental health treatment gap presides. The World Health Organization's (WHO) mental health gap intervention guide (mhGAP-IG.v2) offers a non-specialist and evidence-based guide for the assessment of depression however requires adaptation to the context of use.

Adapting the depression component of WHO Mental Health Gap Intervention Guide (mhGAP-IG.v2) for primary care in Shenzhen, China: a DELPHI study.

Background: Primary care doctors in Shenzhen, China are increasingly expected to identify and prevent depressive disorder; however, they have received limited mental health training and community healthcare centres (CHC) do not provide standardised protocols for the diagnosis and care of depressive disorder. The World Health Organization's mental health gap intervention guide, version 2 (mhGAP-IG.v2) is a decision support tool for non-specialists for the assessment, management and follow-up of mental, neurological and substance use disorders (including depressive disorder).

Needs, gaps and opportunities for standard and e-mental health care among at-risk populations in the Asia Pacific in the context of COVID-19: a rapid scoping review.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have profound mental health impact, including in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region. Some populations might be at higher risk of experiencing negative mental health impacts and may encounter increased barriers to accessing mental health care. The pandemic and related restrictions have led to changes in care delivery, including a rapid shift to the use of e-mental health and digital technologies.

The capacity-building role of community liaison workers with refugee communities in Victoria, Australia.

Background: A range of services within Australia and internationally have been developed that are focused on the engagement of individuals who are of refugee background to work as a liaison between their communities and mental health services. The Community Liaison Worker (CLW) role at the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture (VFST) was developed in 2008 in order to engage in such capacity-building initiatives.

Aims: To review and document the establishment, evolution and current status of the VFST CLW role, and examine the perspectives of CLWs on their role in trauma-informed community capacity-building.

Effect of smartphone-based stress management programs on depression and anxiety of hospital nurses in Vietnam: a three-arm randomized controlled trial.

There are growing concerns on stress among nurses in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in South-East Asia. It is important to improve mental health among nurses in these countries. The objective of this study was to examine the efficacy of two types of newly developed smartphone-based stress management programs in improving depressive and anxiety symptoms among hospital nurses in Vietnam.

Lay social workers implementing a task-sharing approach to managing depression in Vietnam.

Background: While depression is a leading contributor to burden of disease in Vietnam, there is a critical gap in depression care due to the shortage of mental health specialists and extremely limited mental health services in general health care settings. We have previously reported the effectiveness of a supported self-management (SSM) task-sharing intervention for depression, delivered by social collaborators (lay social workers). The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing the effectiveness of delivery of SSM by social collaborators and delineate areas for further attention that are relevant for scale-up.

Effects of Smartphone-Based Stress Management on Improving Work Engagement Among Nurses in Vietnam: Secondary Analysis of a Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Work engagement is important for employee well-being and work performance. However, no intervention study has investigated the effect of an eMental Health intervention on work engagement among workers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the effects of a newly developed smartphone-based stress management program (ABC Stress Management) on improving work engagement among hospital nurses in Vietnam, an LMIC.

Reliability and validity of the Vietnamese version of the 9-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale.

Objectives: The present study investigated the reliability and validity of a newly developed Vietnamese version of the 9-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9-V) in a sample of hospital nurses in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Methods: The UWES-9 was translated into Vietnamese following a standard procedure. A survey was conducted of 949 registered nurses in a large tertiary general hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2018, using a self-administered questionnaire including the Vietnamese UWES-9, other scales measuring health status, work performance, job demand, job control, and workplace social support, and questions pertaining to demographic variables.

Internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and item response characteristics of the Kessler 6 scale among hospital nurses in Vietnam.

The present study investigated the internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and item response characteristics of a newly developed Vietnamese version of the Kessler 6 (K6) scale among hospital nurses in Hanoi, Vietnam. The K6 was translated into the Vietnamese language following a standard procedure. A survey was conducted of nurses in a large general hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, using a questionnaire including the Vietnamese K6, other scales (DASS21, health-related QOL, self-rated health, and psychosocial work environment), and questions about demographic variables.

Service user and family participation in mental health policy making in Timor-Leste: a qualitative study with multiple stakeholders.

Background: Participation in mental health system strengthening by people with mental health problems and their families is a cornerstone of people-centred mental health care, yet there is a dearth of research about participation from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly from the Asia Pacific region. Hence, this study aimed to assess the current situation, challenges, enabling factors and future actions for service user and family participation in mental health policy making in Timor-Leste.

Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 85 adults (≥18 years) who were: (1) mental health service users (n = 20) and their families (n = 10); (2) government decision makers (n = 10); (3) mental health and social service providers (n = 23); (4) civil society (n = 9); and (5) other groups (n = 13).

Is supported self-management for depression effective for adults in community-based settings in Vietnam?: a modified stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: This study tested the effectiveness of a supported self-management (SSM) intervention to reduce symptoms of depression among adults compared with enhanced treatment as usual in community-based and primary care settings in Vietnam.

Methods: The cluster randomized trial included 376 adults in 32 communes in eight provinces. Eligible participants scored > 7 on the SRQ-20 depression scale.

Psychometric properties of the Adelaide Diagnostic Learning Inventory-Brief (ADLIB).

Objective: There has been increased attention in recent years to mental health, quality of life, stress and academic performance among university students, and the possible influence of learning styles. Brief reliable questionnaires are useful in large-scale multivariate research designs, such as the largely survey-based research on well-being and academic performance of university students. The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a briefer version of the 39-item Adelaide Diagnostic Learning Inventory.

Intersectoral collaboration for people-centred mental health care in Timor-Leste: a mixed-methods study using qualitative and social network analysis.

Background: Intersectoral collaboration is fundamental to the provision of people-centred mental health care, yet there is a dearth of research about how this strategy operates within mental health systems in low- and middle-income countries. This is problematic given the known attitudinal, structural and resource barriers to intersectoral collaboration in high-income country mental health systems. This study was conducted to investigate intersectoral collaboration for people-centred mental health care in Timor-Leste, a South-East Asian country in the process of strengthening its mental health system.

Are people-centred mental health services acceptable and feasible in Timor-Leste? A qualitative study.

People-centred mental healthcare is an influential concept for health system strengthening and sustainable development that has been developed and promoted primarily in Western contexts. It characterizes service users, families and communities as active participants in health system development. However, we have limited understanding of how well people-centred mental healthcare aligns with the multiplicity of peoples, cultures, languages and contexts in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Validation of the Job Content Questionnaire among hospital nurses in Vietnam.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) in Vietnamese among hospital nursing staff.

Methods: The 22-items version of the JCQ was used. This includes four scales: (a) psychological demands (5 items); (b) job control (9 items); (c) supervisor support (4 items); and (d) coworker support (4 items).

Current needs for the improved management of depressive disorder in community healthcare centres, Shenzhen, China: a view from primary care medical leaders.

Background: The prevalence of depressive disorder in Shenzhen is higher than for any other city in China. Despite national health system reform to integrate mental health into primary care, the majority of depression cases continue to go unrecognized and untreated. Qualitative research was conducted with primary care medical leaders to describe the current clinical practice of depressive disorder in community healthcare centres (CHC) in Shenzhen and to explore the participants' perceptions of psychological, organizational and societal barriers and enablers to current practice with a view to identifying current needs for the improved care of depressive disorder in the community.

Social inclusion and exclusion of people with mental illness in Timor-Leste: a qualitative investigation with multiple stakeholders.

Background: Social inclusion is a human right for all people, including people with mental illness. It is also an important part of recovery from mental illness. In Timor-Leste, no research has investigated the social experiences of people with mental illness and their families.

Prevalence of autism spectrum disorders and their relation to selected socio-demographic factors among children aged 18-30 months in northern Vietnam, 2017.

Background: Autism spectrum disorders are increasing worldwide and in Vietnam. This study reports the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders and examines their relation to selected socio-demographic factors among children aged 18 and 30 months in three northern cities/provinces in Vietnam, 2017.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 17,277 children aged 18 and 30 months one city (Hanoi capital) and two provinces in northern Vietnam.