Sangath is an NGO based in Goa, established in 1995, dedicated to promoting health. We work across the life span and our strength is in community based research and service, focusing on mental, behavioural and developmental health issues. Sangath’s key mission and expertise lies in studying the epidemiology of mental disorders and developing and evaluating interventions to be delivered through existing public systems. Presently Sangath is involved in projects concerning learning disabilities, autism, school health promotion and adolescent health, schizophrenia, depressive and anxiety disorders, alcohol use disorders, reproductive and child health, and chronic diseases.
Sangath was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Foundation International Prize for Creative & Effective Institutions in 2008 and its work has gained local, national and international recognition with tangible impact on policies and programs. Sangath has completed amongst the largest population based cohort studies and randomized controlled trials for mental disorders in India. Sangath has a strong human and infrastructure resources for carrying out action oriented research, all of which are the result of sustained capacity building. Sangath is recognized by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India as a Scientific Research Organization. Sangath’s research has been cited in three recent Lancet series (child development, mental health, adolescent health) and two World Health Reports (2001 and 2005). Sangath’s research has directly influenced research groups and health policy in several countries including Palestine, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Cambodia, Vietnam & Ethiopia. Sangath’s research findings are influencing scaling up of models of care, for example through the National Mental Health Program; the Government of Goa has invited Sangath to run the revised National Mental Health Program in Goa which will offer unique opportunities to scale up findings of the research. Sangath is the nodal agency in Goa for two of India’s national health programmes involving reproductive and child health and developmental disabilities. Sangath is the nodal agency which has set up the web-site, the virtual nerve centre, of the new Movement for Global Mental Health (www.globalmentalhealth.org). Sangath runs a number of training courses including the Leadership in Mental Health course which seeks to provide skills for scaling up community based interventions for mental disorders and the Courses on the development and evaluation of complex public health interventions. Through these diverse activities, Sangath has established strong partnerships with government and NGO agencies concerned with mental health.
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