This page is alzhub.org's plain-English summary of a published study, not the paper itself. It is generated from the record we hold for this study, sourced and linked below — check the original for the full text and methods.

47/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 47 out of 100. Caregiving

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Objective To estimate the shortage of mental health professionals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods We used data from the World Health Organization's Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS) from 58 LMICs, country-specific information on the burden of various mental disorders and a hypothetical core service delivery package to estimate how many psychiatrists, nurses and psychosocial care providers would be needed to provide mental health care to the total population of the countries studied. We focused on the following eight problems, to which WHO has attached priority: depression, schizophrenia, psychoses other than schizophrenia, suicide, epilepsy, dementia, disorders related to the use of alcohol and illicit drugs, and paediatric mental disorders. Findings All low-income countries and 59% of the middle-income countries in our sample were found to have far fewer professionals than they need to deliver a core set of mental health interventions. The 58 LMICs sampled would need to increase their total mental health workforce by 239,000 full-time equivalent professionals to address the current shortage. Conclusion Country-specific policies are needed to overcome the large shortage of mental health-care staff and services throughout LMICs.

Key findings

Methods We used data from the World Health Organization's Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS) from 58 LMICs, country-specific information on the burden of various mental disorders and a hypothetical core service delivery package to estimate how many psychiatrists, nurses and psychosocial care providers would be needed to provide mental health care to the total population of the countries studied.
We focused on the following eight problems, to which WHO has attached priority: depression, schizophrenia, psychoses other than schizophrenia, suicide, epilepsy, dementia, disorders related to the use of alcohol and illicit drugs, and paediatric mental disorders.
Findings All low-income countries and 59% of the middle-income countries in our sample were found to have far fewer professionals than they need to deliver a core set of mental health interventions.
The 58 LMICs sampled would need to increase their total mental health workforce by 239,000 full-time equivalent professionals to address the current shortage.
Conclusion Country-specific policies are needed to overcome the large shortage of mental health-care staff and services throughout LMICs.

Why it matters

This analysis estimated that low- and middle-income countries have far fewer mental health professionals than needed to deliver a core set of interventions, including for dementia. The countries sampled would need to add about 239,000 full-time equivalent professionals to address the current shortage.

New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Caregiving →

Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 47/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Bulletin of the World Health Organization)
Journal's citation record	2 / 4	Bulletin of the World Health Organization: journal h-index 200 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2011 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomised / blinded	0 / 2	No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	6 / 7	Cited 434 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	4 / 5	25.5 citations a year over 17 year(s) since 2011
Impact for its field and year	4 / 6	Cited 11.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	0 / 6	No other study in this library cites it
Still being cited	3 / 4	Cited 60 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	3 / 4	Last-listed author Shekhar Saxena: h-index 91 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	University of California, Berkeley: institution h-index 2,012 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 2 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 21379414)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	47 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

APA 7th

Bruckner, T. A., Scheffler, R. M., Shen, G., Yoon, J., Chisholm, D., Morris, J., et al. (2011). The mental health workforce gap in low- and middle-income countries: a needs-based approach. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. https://doi.org/10.2471/blt.10.082784

Vancouver

Bruckner TA, Scheffler RM, Shen G, Yoon J, Chisholm D, Morris J, et al. The mental health workforce gap in low- and middle-income countries: a needs-based approach. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2011. doi:10.2471/blt.10.082784. PMID: 21379414.

BibTeX

@article{bruckner2011-21379414,
  author  = {Bruckner, T. A. and Scheffler, R. M. and Shen, G. and Yoon, J. and Chisholm, D. and Morris, J. and Fulton, B. D. and Dal Poz, M. R. and others},
  title   = {{The mental health workforce gap in low- and middle-income countries: a needs-based approach}},
  journal = {Bulletin of the World Health Organization},
  year    = {2011},
  doi     = {10.2471/blt.10.082784},
  pmid    = {21379414},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.2471/blt.10.082784}
}

Studies this one cites

Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.

Related studies in Caregiving

Also tagged “delirium”

858 studies in the library carry the topic tag “delirium”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 858 tagged studies.

Similar studies

More on Caregiving

See all studies in Caregiving →