Thinking Healthy Programme

On 27th July 2013, a training workshop for Health Professionals, Stake Holders and Policy Makers was held on the theme of “Thinking Healthy Program” (THP). This is a psychological intervention for the treatment of perinatal depression – developed in Pakistan and evaluated through one of the largest randomized controlled trials for a psycho-social intervention in a low-income country. THP employed simplified techniques of cognitive – behavioral therapy and trained community health workers to deliver the intervention. The results, published in the Lancet (Volume 372, No. 9642, p902–909, 13 September 2008) provide strong evidence for the effectiveness of task – shifting strategies to reduce the global burden of mental disorder. Prof. Atif Rahman from the University of Liverpool, who developed the program, and his team from the Human Development Research Foundation, Pakistan, conducted the half-day workshop.