Urvita Bhatia

Oxford Brookes University · Faculty of Health and Life Sciences

Globally, alcohol consumption causes significant societal harm and is a leading risk factor for death and disability in adults. In India, 3.7% of all deaths and 3.1% disability adjusted life years (DALYs) can be attributed to alcohol. In the context of rapid economic development and emphasized by the COVID-19 pandemic, India’s lack of a consolidate...

Technology-enabled interventions are often recommended to overcome geographical barriers to access and inequitable distribution of mental healthcare workers. The aim of this study was to examine the acceptability and feasibility of an assisted telepsychiatry model implemented in primary care settings in India. In-depth interviews were conducted wit...

Mental health problems are a significant and growing cause of morbidity worldwide. Despite the availability of evidence-based interventions, most people experiencing mental health problems remain untreated. This treatment gap is particularly large in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) and is due to both supply-side and demand-side barriers. Th...

Background This study explores the experiences of participants receiving a mobile-based brief intervention (BI) for hazardous drinking in India, to determine characteristics that influenced engagement and examine perceived reasons for change in alcohol consumption. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 adult hazardous drinkers...

Objective The aim of this systematic review is to understand the relationship between alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and three non-communicable diseases [NCD] (cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, and diabetes) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods We searched the following databases using a systematic search strategy: Medli...

This chapter states that the family, or certain members, are central to all aspects of ethical practice for the treatment of alcohol problems. This is because people’s alcohol-related behaviour will have many effects on others in the family and because family members may be involved in the help that an individual may seek or receive, related to the...

The alcohol-attributable disease burden is greater in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as compared to high-income countries. Despite the effectiveness of interventions such as health promotion and education, brief interventions, psychological treatments, family-focused interventions, and biomedical treatments, access to evidence-based care...

Background: Workforce shortages pose major obstacles to the timely detection and treatment of schizophrenia, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries. The SARATHA (Schizophrenia Assessment, Referral, and Awareness Training for Health Auxiliaries) project involves the systematic development, iterative refinement, and pilot testing of...

Issues: Despite the large number of effective psychological interventions for alcohol use disorders (AUD), there is still a lack of clarity concerning the strategies that make these interventions effective. Approach: The overall goal of this review was to identify, examine and synthesise the information about common strategies from evidence-base...

Background Despite evidence of the burden of alcohol use on families, there is a lack of adequate and targeted support. We aimed to examine the feasibility, acceptability and impact of Supporting Addiction Affected Families Effectively (SAFE), a brief lay counsellor-delivered intervention for affected family members (AFMs). Methods Parallel arm fe...

Global alcohol consumption and harmful use of alcohol is projected to increase in the coming decades, and most of the increase will occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); which calls for cost-effective measures to reduce alcohol exposure in these countries. One such evidence based measure is screening and brief intervention (BI) for alc...

Objective To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a mobile-based brief intervention (BI), generate preliminary estimates of the impact of the BI and fine-tune the procedures for a definitive randomised controlled trial. Design Parallel three-arm single-blind individually randomised controlled pilot trial. Eligible and consenting participa...

Background Tele-psychiatry is an increasingly acceptable and feasible platform to deliver mental health care with the potential to increase access to care in low-resource settings. We aim to examine the acceptability and preliminary impact of the delivery of assisted tele-psychiatry services in primary healthcare settings in Goa, India. Methods Be...

Background Alcohol use is typically established during adolescence and initiation of use at a young age poses risks for short- and long-term health and social outcomes. However, there is limited understanding of the onset, progression and impact of alcohol use among adolescents in India. The aim of this review is to synthesise the evidence about pr...

Only around 50-75% of individuals fully understand the various aspects of informed consent in research. The aim of our study was to examine whether supplementing the conventional paper-based informed consent process with an audiovisual aid improves participants' understanding of the informed consent process and the information conveyed to them. Par...

A significant treatment gap exists for mental illnesses across the world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Task-sharing, a potentially scalable strategy to bridge the treatment gap, has been shown to be feasible and effective for the treatment of a range of mental illnesses. However, there is a lack of research examining la...

Purpose Despite the World Health Organization and United Nations recognising violence, abuse and mental health as public health priorities, their intersection is under-studied in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). International violence, abuse and mental health network (iVAMHN) members recognised the need to identify barriers and priorities...

Hazardous drinking (HD) is a major public health problem in India. However, healthcare access is limited by the shortage of healthcare professionals. Extensive global evidence demonstrates the effectiveness of technology-delivered BIs in reducing alcohol consumption. Our study aims to increase healthcare access for HD, by designing a contextually-a...

Despite the increasing burden of alcohol dependence, treatment resources in low- and middle-income countries such as India, are concentrated in poorly accessible tertiary care facilities. The aim of our study was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of lay health worker delivered home-based packages of care for alcohol dependence. We conduc...

Introduction: The World Health Organization's (WHO) Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is used extensively across the world, with cut-off scores recommended by the WHO. We reviewed the use and validity of AUDIT cut-off scores in low- and middle-income countries as cultural contexts are expected to influence the detection of alcohol...

Background: There is a significant evidence gap on gambling in India, where gambling is viewed predominantly through the legal lens. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence, patterns, and correlates of gambling. Methods: Cross-sectional data from the follow-up assessment in a cohort (n = 1514 men) from India. The following data were...

The entire range of addictions is increasingly being acknowledged as an area of public health concern. Substance use disorders and behavioral addictions are associated with a range of adverse health, lifestyle, social, and economic outcomes. Despite the availability of evidence-based interventions, low-resource settings are ridden with challenges o...

Introduction The aim of this review is to provide the first consolidation of the policy environment surrounding alcohol-related societal harm in India giving researchers and policy-makers a clearer base for future reforms. This review is also an important adaptation on the scoping review method for policy reviews in low-resource settings that may s...

Introduction: Despite the large burden of a relative's drinking on their family members, the latter's perspectives and experiences are largely neglected. The aims of this article are to assess the coping strategies used by affected family members (AFMs) in Goa, India, and to examine the nature of the support they have for dealing with their drinki...

Aims: To explore the effect of the relatives’ drinking on their family members, and the preliminary impact of the 5-step method intervention on the adverse effect of the relatives’ drinking on their family members. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with eligible Affected Family Members (AFMs) (n = 30) to understand the effect of the relat...

Quantitative evidence about the burden of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) needs to be complemented with a nuanced qualitative understanding of explanatory models to help supplement public health strategies that are too often steeped uncritically in biomedical models. The aim of this study was to identify the role of various factors in the onset and pe...

Aim: To review the literature on psychosocial interventions for addiction affected family members in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC). Methods: A systematic review with a detailed search strategy focussing on psychosocial interventions directed towards people affected by addiction without any gender, year or language specifications was con...

Despite the potential advantages of community detoxification for alcohol dependence, in many countries the available resources are mostly focused on specialist services that are resource-intensive, and often difficult to access because of financial or geographical factors. The aim of this systematic review is to synthesise the existing literature a...

Background: Substance use disorders among the elderly are a growing public health concern but there is a limited evidence base on interventions designed specifically for this population group. This review aims to update the review by Moy et al., 2011, by examining recent advances in the treatment of substance use disorders in the elderly. Methods:...

The aim of this Review is to identify eff ective interventions and treatment guidelines to manage common types of psychiatric emergencies in non-specialist settings in low-income and middle-income countries. Mental health specialist services in low-income and middle-income countries are scarce. We did a systematic review of interventions for psychi...