1.5M US$ funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies: It is a 4 years project (started in March 2011) with Thua Thien Hue Department of Health (TTH DoH), Hue Psychiatric hospital and Women Union (WU) as key partners. BNVN aims to implement the Model for Mental Health and Development in Thua Thien Hue province as the pilot project to adapt the model, to make it most suitable with Vietnam context and then replicate it in some other provinces in Vietnam. The results of the project are:

Established community based mental health care and development system

Clear working mechanism between project implementing partners: Department of Health, Psychiatric Hospital, and Women Union will be created to enable the multi-disciplinary approach.

Strengthened capacity of the partners in supporting and providing MHD services

Through training, coaching and supervision in the following main areas: how to work with community – community mapping, animation, collaborative stepped care for management of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), schizophrenia and epilepsy; income generation, micro-finance loan, vocational training, self-help groups…

Increased awareness of stakeholders, people in community on mental health, advocacy

Behavior change communication, social mobilization will be done. BNVN also advocates for the inclusion of its services in the mainstream development efforts: screening, tests, psychotherapy, some medicines to be paid by the health insurance, a major part of livelihoods services to be connected with national programs (in micro-finance loan, housing, water and sanitation, vocational training) and early success have been achieved.

Provided quality services for people with mental illness and epilepsy through community based approach

BNVN provides community based services on mental health care (screening, psycho-education, diagnosis, pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, relaxation, rehabilitation), livelihood (loan, vocational training, job placement, breeding, means of production, small business setup…) and other social supports for people with schizophrenia, epilepsy, anxiety and their carers. BNVN also supports the establishment of Self-help groups of service consumers, provide them with necessary knowledge and skills to express their needs, their concerns to the related people including their peers, carers, service providers, and community leaders, enable them to work with the service provision system, to advocate for themselves successfully to have their basic needs and basic right met.

MHD model for Vietnam assessed, improved, and disseminated

The model will be assessed through the systematic study of how a specific set of activities and designated strategies are used to successfully integrate an evidence-based public health intervention within specific settings: process indicators being collected regularly, each individual who enters the program has their baseline information collected and will be follow-upped periodically. Thematic research will be done on the community-based services for people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The evidence will be used to adapt the MHD model to make it most suitable for Vietnam. The information generated from the project will be disseminated to key stakeholders include Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs (MOLISA), WHO, WU and donors.

Main achievement:

• Worked in 3 districts/cities with 15 communes 

• Hue city: Kim Long, Phu Binh,Thuan Loc, Tay Loc, Thuy Xuan commune
• Huong Thuy district: Thuy Thanh, Thuy Duong Thuy Phuong, Thuy Chau, Thuy Phu commune
• Phu Vang District: Phu Thuong, Phu Ho Phu Thanh,  Vinh Thanh, Vinh Thai commune

• Delivered 51 training courses (194 days) for partners: 
  • 182 village health workers/collaborators, 30 general practitioners (GP) from 30 commune health station, 6 GPs from District Health Ceters, 10 doctors from provincial level
  • 30 WU leaders from commune level, 6 WU leaders from district level, 5 WU leaders from provincial level
  • 98 service users on farming, livestock, saving, self-help group operation…
• Reached 2273 people: schizophrenia: 757;  Anxiety: 506; Epilepsy: 315; Others: 695
• From project budget of VND566,905,000: 161 people (108 patients, 53 carers) have received livelihood intervention from BNVN via WU partner including: vocational training (14 people), saving credit training and training on farming techniques, livestock (79 people) and micro credit support (98 people) and supportive supervision provided by BNVN experts and WU staff at all levels. 
• Meanwhile, through the social mobilization, other sources have been leveraged through WU partner leading to 235 patients and 64 caregivers receiving support from other sources for the upgrading of houses, supporting 20 children from poor service users families to schools, vocational training, doing small business, food and cash support; The total financial resource leveraged is VND 2,776,330,000.
• Established 5 self-help groups with 98 members meet monthly, sharing knowledge and skills on caring patients, livelihood, and entertainment. Groups successfully started their own fundraising. 1 group leader received scholarship to attend social worker training for 3 month as a part of National Program 32 of the MoLISA.
• Establishment of The Research Center for Mental Health and Community Development, the Vietnamese identity of the organization to maximize the opportunity for applying funding as well as increase the functions of the organization as a CSO (civil society organization) in Vietnam.

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