Liana Chase |
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01.07.2019-29.08.2019
Ethical Challenges in Global Mental Health: A Psychopolitical Analysis of ‘Task Shifting’ in Nepal
This project pursues the following main objectives:
1) To elaborate ‘psychopolitics’ as a framework for critical analysis in global mental health; this will entail revisiting Foucault’s seminal work on the biopolitical as well as a review of the literature on relevant applications, especially in political psychology and psychological anthropology
2) To conduct a psychopolitical analysis of mental health task shifting interventions in post-earthquake Nepal addressing the distribution of power, labor, expertise, and resources at all stages of intervention development and implementation; primary data to be analyzed comprise 54 formal interviews and fieldnotes from extensive participant observation in intervention activities and the daily life of frontline clinicians, clients and their families
3) Based on this analysis, to identify and describe central ethical problems associated with task shifting interventions in a low-income context
4) To formulate recommendations on the ethical practice of task shifting in global mental health
5) To disseminate findings to organizations involved in funding, implementing, and establishing standards and guidelines for mental health intervention in low-income countries, especially the WHO