The
Center for Advocacy in Mental Health [CAMH] is a research center
of Bapu Trust. It was started in
August, 2000, in Pune city, with support from Sir Dorabji Tata
Trust, Mumbai and the Mac Arthur Fund for Leadership Development,
2001.
CAMH
is a community resource center in mental health. We offer a library,
documentation service and an oral history archive. CAMH
addresses the information needs of non-medical healers, therapists,
community workers, users of mental health services, lawyers,
activists, as well as researchers and students. Doctors interested
in alternative streams of thinking in mental health, and desiring
to find ways of integrating the user voices in their program
activities may also find our resource center useful.
The
CAMH Oral History Archive presents case stories from the community,
about people suffering from a psychiatric or a psycho-social
disability. The Archive is a source of knowledge and inspiration
for persons suffering from mental illness, as they have the
chance to read and reflect upon stories like their own. In
fact personal interest or experience of mental distress has
brought many people to our center in search of support as well
as a desire to contribute their bit to our work.
The
Oral History Archive is a rich collection of people's stories,
testimonies, audio-visuals, personal narratives, case papers
and other materials or historical artefacts about emotional
well-being and ill health. The Archive stands as evidence of
people's profound experiences with the mental health service
delivery system in India.
CAMH
runs an "Alternative
Mental Health" program under which it brings together
resource persons, professionals and practitioners as well as
communities, families, and users, in order to share information
and build capacity on the process of "healing and recovery" from
a psychiatric disability, without the use of psychiatric drugs.
Our
"community" now includes the following groups of stakeholders:
1.
Our staff:
Our
staff are our internal clients, or community. Administration
has a commitment to put their internal client first and
address their needs.
2.
Our advisors:
All
our projects and programs are supervised and reviewed by
advisors. This has helped us to bring expertise from Pune
and elsewhere, into our work. It has also led to improvements
in the quality of our work.
3.
Library users:
Our
library is now catering to the information needs of a wide
cross section of people, including law students, psychology
students, human rights students, teachers from various
disciples, mental health professionals, counselors, NGO
activists, researchers and lawyers.
4.
Trainees:
We
run two types of training programs, one, catering to the
study needs of program managers and professionals; and
the other, catering to the educational needs of community
health workers and field workers from the NGO sector. Outside
of these, students of refresher courses in Tata Institute;
University of Pune; are also our trainees.
5.
Clients:
Seher
clients include both community based clients as well as
center based clients. We are soon starting legal aid, which
is also a client based service.
6.
Our readers:
Our
website reaches out to the community and is accessed regularly
by an interested public. Our newsletter and publications,
written for the lay reader, reaches out to the masses.
7.
Networks:
We
are now a part of both regional as well as non-regional
networks in mental health. (United Nations Convention Ad
Hoc Committee Meetings; Support Coalition International;
Alternative Mental Health; Policy Information Network;
World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry; Etc.)
8.
Partner organizations:
We
have done collaborative work on a formal basis with other
organizations, including NALSAR, the National Law School
of Hyderabad; Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad;
SOHAM, Pune; and the Sangath Center, Goa. We have partnered
with international agencies such as Action Aid, on an NHRC
project.
9.
Government Departments:
Local
authorities in Maharashtra from various departments are
also a part of the Bapu community.
10.
Funders:
We
are funded by Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Action Aid, International;
ICSSR (Indian Council for Philosophical Research); Royal
Netherlands Embassy, through the Indian Institute of Management.
11.
Community:
Our
programs on alternative mental health; film festival and
workshops, community theatre, our presentations in exhibitions,
etc. also have an outreach towards the general public.
Director:
Bhargavi V Davar, Ph. D. Co-ordinators: Rupesh Kharat (Administration) Ketki Ranade (Program) Deepra Dandekar (Research) Ramya Anand (Program) Gita Kale (Research)
Center
for Advocacy in Mental Health, Bapu Trust
Kapil Villa, Plot no. 9
Survey No. 50/4, Kondhwa Khurd
Pune-411048
Tel: 020-26837644/47
Email: wamhc@dataone.in; info@camhindia.org
