Abstract
With rapid growth and development in recent decades, the State of Qatar has been redefining strategies and policies towards building a world-class healthcare system. Mental health has emerged as a priority area for development. As a result, mental health services in the region are being redefined and expanded, and this was realised with the launching of the ambitious National Mental Health Strategy in 2013. Traditionally, mental healthcare in Qatar had been considered to be the remit of psychiatrists within secondary care. The new strategy supported the transition towards community-based care. It outlined a plan to design and build a comprehensive and integrated mental health system, offering treatment in a range of settings. In this article, we provide an overview of the advent of primary care mental health services in Qatar. We discuss the historical aspects of psychiatric care and development of primary care mental health services in Qatar.
Highlights
We provide an overview of the advent of primary care mental health services in Qatar
Qatar has developed a comprehensive primary healthcare system and continues to expand its facilities and workforce. These changes have been underpinned by a clear mental health strategy, and present Qatar as a model for other countries in the Arabian Gulf region when developing and enhancing their own primary care mental health services
Family doctors are ideally positioned as the care providers for these patients
Summary
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