Latin American countries lead in Google search volumes for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: Implications for global mental health research

The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and initial accomplishments of a training program of young leaders in community mental health research as part of a Latin American initiative known as RedeAmericas. RedeAmericas was one of five regional ‘Hubs’ funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to improve community mental health care and build mental health research capacity in low- and middle-income countries. It included investigators in six Latin American cities – Santiago, Chile; Medellín, Colombia; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Córdoba, Neuquén, and Buenos Aires in Argentina – working together with a team affiliated with the Global Mental Health program at Columbia University in New York City. One component of RedeAmericas was a capacity-building effort that included an Awardee program for early career researchers in the mental health field. We review the aims of this component, how it developed, and what was learned that would be useful for future capacity-building efforts, and also comment on future prospects for maintaining this type of effort.

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Leading countries in mental health research in Latin America and the Caribbean

Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1590/s1516-44462006005000042 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 118-122 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Denise Razzouk ◽

Ricardo Zorzetto ◽

Maria Thereza Dubugras ◽

Jerônimo Gerolin ◽

Jair de Jesus Mari

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Latin American ◽

Health Research ◽

Research Method ◽

Research Priorities ◽

Mental Health Research ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Essential Science Indicators ◽

Number Of Citations ◽

Latin American Countries

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence and burden of mental disorders have been growing in Latin-American and the Caribbean countries and research is an important tool for changing this scenario. The objective of this paper is to describe the development of mental health research in Latin American and the Caribbean countries from 1995 to 2005. METHOD: The indicators of productivity were based on the ISI Essential Science Indicators database. We compared the number of papers and citations, as well as the number of citations per paper between 1995 and 2005 for each country ranked in the Essential Science Indicators. RESULT: Eleven Latin-American countries were ranked in the ISI database and six of them demonstrated a higher level of development in mental health research: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. Mexico produced the largest number of papers, while Brazil showed a larger number of citations per paper. CONCLUSION: Mental health research is still incipient in Latin American and the Caribbean countries, and many challenges remain to be overcome. Also, it is necessary to establish the research priorities, to allocate more funding, and to improve researchers training in research method and design.

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