What is it about?
The MHLAS is a promising new tool for assessing MHL among mid-level healthcare providers and community health volunteers. The scale’s robust psychometric properties and comprehensive coverage of MHL components make it a valuable tool for both research and practical applications. By assessing MHL among healthcare providers, the MHLAS can contribute to informing policy decisions on priority areas for better mental health awareness.
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Why is it important?
Existing MHL scales are designed primarily for the general population and focus broadly on areas such as knowledge of mental disorders, risk factors, available professional help, positive mental health behaviors, and general awareness and understanding of mental health issues. While these scales provide valuable insights, applying multiple scales to cover each MHL component addressed by these scales is time-consuming and inefficient. In addition, the existing tools fail to capture critical aspects relevant to CHWs, such as addressing myths and misconceptions, reducing stigma, and recognizing the need for interpersonal support in mental health care. They also lack the ability to assess essential competencies required for CHWs, including identifying individuals in distress, providing basic support, and facilitating access to appropriate care. Given these limitations, there is a pressing need for a tailored assessment tool that comprehensively evaluates all essential components of MHL, particularly the ability to assist others in navigating mental health challenges. While existing tools offer a general understanding of mental health, they do not adequately assess MHL in health workers and volunteers, who require deeper knowledge beyond general awareness. Given their unique role, there is a need for a tailored MHL tool that assesses and equips CHWs with the specific knowledge and skills required to contribute effectively to mental health care within their communities. To address this gap, our study aims to develop and validate a new MHL tool tailored for CHWs also referred to as basic health care providers.
Perspectives
The Mental Health Literacy Assessment Scale has demonstrated robust psychometric properties and comprehensive coverage of mental health literacy components, making it a valuable tool for both research and practical applications among Community health workers in Nepal. While these findings support its utility in this context, further validation is needed to establish its applicability across other low- and middle-income countries to assess its effectiveness in diverse cultural and geographic settings.
Shishir Paudel
Pokhara University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Development and validation of Mental Health Literacy Assessment Scale among community health workers in Nepal, SAGE Open Medicine, April 2025, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/20503121251341423.
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