Suresh Bhise

Indian Mental-Health Programs Bring Treatment Into Shrines and Communities

With one psychiatrist for every 133,000 people in India, the film examines two community approaches to extending mental-health care: Dawa-Dua connects prayer at Gujarat’s Mira Datar shrine with treatment at a nearby clinic, while Parivartan trains local workers in Maharashtra to identify symptoms and connect people with care. Dawa-Dua works through a relationship families already trust without asking them to give up faith; Parivartan’s psychiatrist Hamid Dabholkar argues that community workers are essential to reaching people specialists cannot serve alone.