About MHAT
MHAT is a Charitable Trust, based in Kozhikode, Kerala, India and provides good quality, comprehensive and recovery oriented mental health care to the poorest sections of the population with severe mental disorders. It is entirely based in the community with no provision for hospital admissions and people being selected based on a process of economic screening. The service is provided in collaboration with like-minded local partners which makes it possible to offer services free to the end user
Mission
To surmount the constraints of stigma, prejudice, and economic barriers to bring high-quality mental health care to the underprivileged.
Vision
A world where the community is engaged in offering high-quality, recovery-oriented, mental health care for the poorest of the poor.
Our Values
Love
An all-encompassing feeling of care that is nondiscriminatory, causeless, and consistent.
Respect
An approach to internal and external customers in a way that is primarily acknowledging and sensitive of their humanness.
Quality
A commitment to high standards in all the work we do.
Equality
A belief that fundamentally all beings are equal, irrespective of the roles we play or the labels we bear.
Working Together
A commitment to involving and maintaining connections with patients, families, carers, and communities with a view to co-create solutions and aid in decision-making to bring the highest value to all involved.
11 Questions to Demystify MHAT
Who is MHAT?
MHAT or Mental Health Action Trust, is a Charitable Trust, based in Kozhikode, Kerala, which provides good quality, comprehensive mental health care to the poorest sections of the population with severe mental disorders.
What is unique about the way MHAT operates?
MHAT’s work is entirely based in the community with no provision for hospital admissions. This means patients continue to remain in their homes or localities while receiving the mental health treatment.
How can a Mental Health service be offered entirely in the community?
This is possible because the MHAT model is volunteer-led, community-driven, recovery and rehabilitation oriented and based on the principle of task sharing.
What is task-sharing?
Task sharing involves redefining the dynamics of psychiatric care with experienced psychiatrists taking care of critical aspects of care and delegating the rest of the tasks to professionals with less training as well as to mental health workers.
How can “non-experts” effectively participate in the delivery of mental health care?
This is possible because these “non-experts” are offered context-relevant training, support and supervision on a continuous basis as they engage in the delivery of care.
Why was the need for an innovation in the model felt?
The model puts the ownership of patient recovery not just on the patient, family or doctor but rather on the entire community, which includes volunteers and mental health workers. This is extremely important, particularly in a country where the treatment gap is about 80%.
"MHAT believes that apart from bio-psycho-social care, other healing approaches also play a pivotal role in helping achieve recovery. MHAT is also involved in multidisciplinary research to this end."