Nepal Institute of Mental Health

Background

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, several Nepali-origin mental health professionals in the United States began collaborating with a passionate group of public health experts, psychologists, and psychiatrists in Nepal to establish a mental health organization aimed at creating a sustainable, inclusive, and universally accessible mental health ecosystem in Nepal. Thus, the Nepal Institute of Mental Health (NIOMH) was born in December 2021, engaging in the care of abandoned and subsequently rescued homeless individuals, most of whom suffered from severe mental illnesses

NIOMH is founded on the principles and practices of implementing comprehensive approaches to sustainable developmental objectives. This public mental health initiative concentrates on a number of critical areas, including the provision of integrated services for primary and specialist mental health and primary care, the development of capacity, the conduct of mental health research, the advocacy of rights-based mental health care, and the generation of awareness. It aims to make a strong impact in reducing the mental health care gap in Nepal. The overarching mission of the program is to provide quality mental health care accessible to all and by involving all. The program strives to include members from several disciplines,  most prominent of which will be professionals from public health and mental health, as well as non-mental health specialist health workers and people with lived experience of mental health.

Mission

●      To build a national level mental health center with inpatient and outpatient services 

●      To implement quality mental health services, training, and research and develop sustainable mental health care in a regional eco-system

Vision

●      Mental well-being is a universal concern and it should be made accessible to everyone

 ●      To create a universally accessible and socially inclusive and sustainable mental health eco-system in Nepal