Purpose: The term “Mental health literacy” is defined as knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders which aid their recognition, management or prevention. The importance of health literacy for physical health is widely studied; however, the area of mental health literacy in Pakistan has been comparatively neglected. The purpose of this paper is to address the knowledge about mental health in people living in Pakistan.Design/methodology/approach: Relevant literature relating to mental health literacy was identified through various database searches. The databases searched included: PubMed, Cochrane database of Systemic Reviews, PsycINFO using the terms mental health, mental health literacy, mental health education, Pakistan.Findings: Literature suggests that there is dearth of knowledge about mental illnesses and their treatment among public. This review also highlights the importance of mental health literacy among professionals working in the field of health care. In Pakistan, due to low literacy rate, a high percentage of poverty and dearth of trained professionals warrants an emendation in approaches established for attaining the goal of public health and psychiatric care.Practical implications: Findings have implications for practitioners in the field of mental health care as well as designing targeted interventions for enhancing mental health literacy and help-seeking behavior in the future.Originality/value: A limited understanding and lack of improvement in mental health literacy may interfere with society’s acceptance of evidence-based mental health care which may hamper the delivery of adequate mental health services to the needy.

The Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network recently warned that the Zika virus-containing mosquitoes are being found in Pakistan and the health sector is on high alert. It is thus significant to understand public beliefs and perceptions of the Zika virus and vaccination in the current scenario of Pakistan. Twenty semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted and analyzed through an inductive approach to analysis. The findings were presented in three main categories which were coded: Reality vs. Conspiracy, Vaccination Concerns, and Public Worries. The majority believed that the Zika virus is a real problem and that authorities might be trying to hide the Zika cases in Pakistan. Moreover, they believed that health organizations are being incompetent by failing to take timely remedial measures to manage the Zika. However, 20% have an opposing view and believed that the Zika virus is a conspiracy against Pakistan from the West. Overall, most participants were concerned about the lack of treatment and preventive methods and emphasized the need to create awareness among the public. It is observed that the participants’ perceptions ranged from perceiving the Zika virus as real to as a conspiracy.

Background: Mental health literacy is the beliefs and knowledge about mental health issues and their remedies. Attitudes and beliefs of lay individuals about mental illness are shaped by personal knowledge about mental illness, knowing and interacting with someone living with mental illness, and cultural stereotypes. Mental health issues are increasing and are alarming in almost every part of the world, and hence compiling this review provides an opportunity to understand the different views regarding mental disorders and problems as well as to fill the gap in the published literature by focusing only on the belief system and perception of mental health problems among general population. Method: The methodology involved a systematic review and the meta-synthesis method, which includes synthesizing published qualitative studies on mental health perception and beliefs. Sample: Fifteen relevant published qualitative and mixed-method studies, regarding the concept of mental health, were identified for meta-synthesis. Analysis: All the themes of the selected studies were further analyzed to give a broader picture of mental health problems and their perceived causes and management. Only qualitative studies, not older than 2010, focusing on beliefs about, attitudes toward, and perceptions of mental health problems, causes, and treatments were included in this review. Results: The findings are divided into four major categories, namely, 1) symptoms of mental health issues, 2) description of mental health issues, 3) perceived causes, and 4) preferred treatment and help-seeking behavior. Each category contains themes and subthemes based on published studies. Conclusion: The findings reveal multiple causes of, descriptions of, and treatment options for mental health problems, thereby providing insight into different help-seeking behaviors. Clarity is offered by highlighting cultural differences and similarities in mental health beliefs and perceptions about the causes of mental health problems. The implications of the studies and recommendations based on current findings are also discussed.

It is well documented that there is a shortage of mental health care providers, mental health literacy, and underutilization of mental health services in Pakistan. This systematic review aimed to assess the available evidence on factors hindering and/or facilitating access to care among people with mental health issues, health care providers, carers, or any other population group (e.g., students, teachers) in Pakistan. Thirteen published studies of barriers and facilitators in Pakistan were identified through nine electronic databases: Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Ovid Emcare, CINAHL plus, Proquest Central, PsycInfo, Scopus, Pubmed, and ScienceDirect. Thematic analysis revealed that factors facilitating access to mental health services were trust in the effectiveness of mental health services and acknowledging the seriousness of the problem. However, factors hindering the access were financial issues/constraints, personal issues/other priorities, stigma, low mental health knowledge, side-effects/dissatisfaction from previous treatments, time and distance constraints, reliance on traditional/religious healers, and lack of social (i.e., family and peers) support/encouragement. Findings suggest the need for reducing barriers to and enhancing facilitators of seeking mental health services. To improve help-seeking, the focus of strategies should be on enhancing mental health literacy, lowering stigma, and increasing trust in mental health services' effectiveness.

Health literacy (HL) is an essential component of various literacies mentioned in the field of health and education, including cultural, technological, media and scientific literacies. It is important for motivating higher consumer engagement. We aimed to review previous studies of HL in Australia to inform future studies, extend current knowledge and further enhance HL. Using search strings, a systematic search of four databases (i.e., MEDLINE; Embase; CINAHL and Eric) was carried out. A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) based search strategy led to identification of a total of N = 9696 records, that were further screened for inclusion in the review. The review findings were categorized into three major themes: (1) HL and health numeracy; (2) contrast of: knowledge deficiency, knowledge gained, problems of current health care system and (3) HL measurement methods and its domains. The findings from this scoping review show a dearth of measurement tools with sound psychometric properties for assessing HL. The findings also reveal low levels of HL in consumers which is in turn affecting health-related behaviors, utilization of health services and navigation of the health system. More recent developments have tried to integrate vital aspects, including introduction of applications to increase HL and exploring HL in Aboriginal communities.