The National Program for Telementoring in Mental Health and Addictions (PNTSMA), will provide free telementoring cycles to first and second level medical personnel.
In Mexico, access to mental health services is very limited, around 15 million people live with a mental disorder and only three million receive the treatment they need. Due to social stigmas, people who require specialized care take between five and 20 years to receive the treatment they need.
In this sense, the PNTSMA proposes to bring first and second level health personnel closer to mental health specialists so that they have the necessary training to provide mental health care. In this way, the objective is that people who require mental health care and receive it in a timely manner, do so without having to travel long distances or pay private sector specialists.
The Technical Secretariat of the National Mental Health Council (STCONSAME), the body in charge of the PNTSMA, defines mentoring as "a process of accompaniment and support in the task to be performed, as well as integration into the reference group or institution." In this way, the program is focused on the distribution of practical knowledge about the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses through telementoring.
In addition, it is a completely free program, aimed at first and second level care personnel that in its first year has managed to involve nearly a thousand health professionals.
In this way, the PNTSMA has carried out several telemetry cycles, the I Cycle had the participation of 10 storm institutions and 15 groups that received training and advised 638 people from more than 150 medical units in the country. In October 2021, the II Cycle began, which includes 11 telementor institutions, 24 groups and 720 health professionals trained in 507 medical units.
The third and first cycle of 2022 began on January 17 and has the participation of 13 telementor institutions, 25 groups and 800 professionals who will receive training for 10 weeks.
Registration for the IV Cycle begins on March 29 and closes on April 6; the V Cycle begins its inscriptions on June 27 and closes on July 1; The VI and last Cycle of the year opens its inscriptions on September 19 and closes on the 22nd of the same month. All Cycles have a duration of ten weeks.
Check more information on the site https://www.telementoriasaludmental.org.mx/
or write to telementoriasaludmental@salud.gob.mx
The National Program for Telementoring in Mental Health and Addictions - PNTSMA, is a strategy of the Specific Action Program in Mental Health and Addictions 2020-2024 of the Ministry of Health.