Defining Primary Mental Health Care: What is “Primary” and What Constitutes “Care”?
T he concept and definition of primary care have undergone various revisions since its use in 1961. 1 The World Health Organization has described Primary health care as essential healthcare which is universally accessible to individuals and families in the community and provided as close as possible to where people live and work.It refers to care which is based on the needs of the population which is decentralized and requires active participation from the community and family. 2
Authors
- Channaveerachari Naveen Kumar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4568-0420)
- Prakyath Ravindranath Hegde (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6019-6824)
- Rahul Patley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2700-7854)
- Suresh Bada Math (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8190-0382)
- Narayana Manjunatha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2718-7904)
- Gajanan Ganapati Sabhahit (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8207-1755)
- V Samrudhi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2406-9805)
- S Jayashri
Institutions
- National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IN)
- Kasturba Medical College, Manipal (IN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine
- Published
- 2025-08-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/02537176251358547
- Primary Topic
- Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00