Stakeholder perspectives of mental healthcare services in Bangladesh, its challenges and opportunities: a qualitative study

This study explores Bangladesh's mental health services from an individual- and system-level perspective and provides insights and recommendations for strengthening it's mental health system. We conducted 13 in-depth interviews and 2 focus group discussions. Thirty-one participants were recruited using a combination of purposive and snowball sampling methods. All interviews and group discussions were audio-recorded and transcribed, and key findings were translated from Bengali to English. Data were coded manually and analysed using a thematic and narrative analysis approach. Stakeholders perceived scarcity of service availability at the peripheral level, shortage of professionals, weak referral systems, lack of policy implementation and regulatory mechanisms were significant challenges to the mental health system in Bangladesh. At the population level, low levels of mental health literacy, high societal stigma, and treatment costs were barriers to accessing mental healthcare. Key recommendations included increasing the number of mental health workers and capacity building, strengthening regulatory mechanisms to enhance the quality of care within the health systems, and raising awareness about mental health. Introducing measures that relate to tackling stigma, mental health literacy as well as building the capacity of the health workforce and governance systems will help ensure universal mental health coverage.