Tele MANAS - A Digital Platform to Address Mental Health
Dr. Girish N Rao on India's Largest Digitally Enabled Mental Health Program
Although digital technology has greatly enhanced the healthcare industry, its utilization in mental healthcare is often overlooked. The Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States, Tele MANAS, is a platform filling this gap.
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Launched by the Indian government's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Tele MANAS platform aims to provide free tele-mental health services to all districts in the country through its 51 centers.
Tele MANAS is a crucial part of the broader range of technology-enabled mental healthcare programs in the country, says Dr. Girish N Rao, chairman of IT and professor of epidemiology at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, NIMHANS, the nodal center for Tele MANAS. The platform uses technology in addressing the accessibility challenges that hinder the delivery of mental healthcare.
Other components of the platform include mental healthcare management system, electronic health records and AI-enabled program management based on analytics run on the extensive database of the district mental health program.
In this interview with Information Security Media Group held at the CHiME India Masterclass 2023 and THIT Conference 2023, Dr Rao discusses:
- How digitally enabled Tele MANAS platform is helping citizens gain access to free mental health services;
- Leveraging AI/ML to understand the challenges and address them for effective program management;
- Seamless integration between the key technology-enabled mental healthcare programs.
Dr. Rao is a public and community health expert with more than 35 years of experience. He has driven over 60 research projects and is the co-principal investigator for the national mental health survey.
