Page 21 - NIH Bulletin Vol 19, January-June 2022, Entering the Endemic Phase: Nurturing Ideas in Healthcare

#ENTERING THE ENDEMIC PHASE

Headed by the Institute for Clinical Research, this research
commenced in May 2021, and is divided into multiple stages.
The first stage involved telescoping the mental health
landscape in the East Asia and Pacific region by preparing
a framework on how MHPSS can be implemented in these
regions. Subsequently, this initiative led to the development
of an MHPSS-minimum service package which is tailor-made
for implementation in each country.

This MHPSS research brings forth multiple stakeholder
perspectives into the context. The research received
tremendous and pertinent inputs to establish the framework
and minimum-service package for Malaysia from various
stakeholders that consist of the Ministry of Health (MOH), Figure 2: Malaysia Principal Investigator of the study, Dr Norizan bt
Rosli presenting at the Translational MHPSS Workshop on the 14
Ministry of Education (MOE), NGOs and youth representatives December 2021 at held at Dorsett Hotel, PutrajayaMHPSS research
(including deaf youth). project

Throughout the journey, four major activities were conducted
in chronological order as depicted in Figure 1. The details are
as below:

1. Desk-based review - Collection of existing literature and
evidence in mental health
2. Country level stakeholder consultation workshop -
Development of ideas for framework and minimum
service package
3. Key informant (one-to-one) interviews - Involving the
health, education, social welfare, and justice sectors as
well as youth representatives.
4. Translational workshop - Compilation of study findings
and relevant documents presented to stakeholders for
further deliberation during the workshop Figure 2.

The outcome of the MHPSS study is to construct a Malaysia
Country Report and subsequently a Regional Report.
Presently, the research team is exploring platforms to present
the findings after mutual discussion between the research
team and Technical Advisory Group Malaysia including
UNICEF regarding the country report prepared. The MHPSS
study team hopes that the generated evidence from Malaysia
will be able to facilitate health policy decisions in the future.

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