NIMHANS

DEPARTMENTS

Department of

 Psychiatric Social Work

Human Resource Development

The department conducts 2 year M.Phil. (Psychiatric Social Work) Course. Not more than 18 to 21 candidates per year may be admitted for the course. Of these, 3 seats are for foreign nationals / Deputed candidates from State Government / Government of India. Ph.D. guidance facilities are also available in the department. [For the course details, please see: Prospectus ]. In addition to M.Phil and Ph.D. programme in Psychiatric Social Work, the staff members of the Department collaborate in the teaching assignments of MD, M.Phil (Clinical Psychology), M.A., MSW, M.Sc., DPN and such other allied programmes. The department also trains the Post Graduate students undergoing M.A. / MSW programmes from other Universities in Karnataka and other States for period ranging from 2 weeks to 6 months. Not less than 400-600 students get exposure to Psychiatric Social Work activities every year. The department has also been involved in the training of social workers from several counties like Nepal, Bangladesh, Srilanka, USA, UK, Canada, Tanzania, Yemen and Burma including WHO Fellows. The members of the Department have been associated with other governmental and non-governmental organizations under administrative / policy making levels. They also serve as members of the Board of studies and Board of Examiners for various Universities in the Country for Doctoral and Post-Graduate Programmes.

Research

Research projects are undertaken in the areas related to Social and Psychological aspects of mental health and mental illness. Staff members undertake either independent or collaborative research projects sponsored by Government of India, Welfare Ministry, Health Ministry, ICMR, WHO, CAPART etc. Every year 18 M.Phil, research dissertations are submitted to the University, in addition, to one or two Ph.D thesis. So far 65 Ph.D theses have been successfully completed. These researches focus on areas like -

• Marital and Family Systems, efficacy of family therapy models, families of mental patients, group intervention.
• Family life education
• School mental health and Community mental health.
• Adolescent Sexuality
• Social work aspects of Child and Adolescent problems.
• Life skills education and prevention of problem.
• Social supports, coping.
• Spirituality aspects
• Resource mobilization for Rehabilitation.
• Deaddiction, Mental retardation.
• Psychiatric Social work in Neurology/ Neurosurgery settings.
• Issues related to welfare and development.
• Psychosocial aspects of disaster management
• Psychosocial care for women and children in Institution
• Children in difficult circumstances
• Enriching counseling skills for counselors in HIV/AIDS

Contributions: Literature

Hand Book of Psychiatric Social Work has been edited. In addition, manuals, work books related to Psychosocial care in disaster management, care of institutional children and women, children in difficult circumstances, Counseling training program in HIV/AIDS, sexual minorities, Life skills education, Family enrichment programme, Effective parenting, Research issues in psychiatric social work, community mental health, women and mental health, Field work training, Clinical social work, Stress management and student enrichment. Tools for measurement of Family Burden, Child rearing protection, Family interaction and Life skills have been standardized.

Future Plans

• Consolidation of the developments that have occurred in different areas of psychiatric social work and their documentation.
• Incorporating the essential elements of psychiatric social work services in the programs of welfare agencies for children, youth, women and the aged.
• Amalgamation of psychiatric social work programs with programs of labour welfare and personnel management in industrial settings.
• Strengthening community efforts to organize rehabilitation services in community like half-way homes, day care centres and special schools.
• Enlisting social service support from student service organizations and other volunteers for the welfare of mentally disabled persons.
• Organizing periodical in-service training programs to social workers in mental health centres as well as teacher working in schools of social work.
• Development of models of training in psychiatric social work.
• Broadening the field work placements for M.Phil trainees to include community agencies in addition to the present postings.
• Helping / guiding schools of social work to start M.Phil / research programs.
• Developing specialized fields like psychiatric rehabilitation, social work with children, family psychiatric social work, social work in community mental health, social work with neurologically / neurosurgically disabled, and social work emergency services.
• Conducting systematic research - exploratory, descriptive, experimental and evaluation studies -on issues related to psychiatric social work and development of indigenous models.
• Development of the department into a centre for advanced studies and research in social work, thus making it as an apex body for psychiatric social work programs for welfare agencies and Universities.