Beneficiary satisfaction with mental health care services: A cross sectional study at district mental health programme OPD of Ganjam District

contact drop outs. Active participation of people with mental illness (PWMI) & their caregivers is of utmost important to achieve the objectives of DMHP and reduce the longstanding mental & neurological disorder (MND) cases. Aim: To describe the beneficiary satisfaction with mental health care services under DMHP Ganjam. Materials & Methods: Descriptive theoretical framework & cross-sectional study design. Beneficiaries were selected by probability sampling. Beneficiary satisfaction was measured by using questionnaire in a Likert scale. Results: Communication skills of doctor, waiting time for consultation, availability of drugs at drug distribution centre were in the 4th quartile, cleanliness of OPD and Drug distribution centre functioning were in 3rd quartile. Adequacy of information available at hospital and waiting time at registration were in 2nd quartile. The functioning of NIDAN diagnostic centre and behaviour of hospital staff other than doctor got lowest score and were in 1st quartile. Conclusion: The distribution score in quartiles gave a preliminary evidence on components of beneficiary satisfaction on mental health care services at DMHP OPD. Recommendation: Counselling on service availability at NIDAN, training on communication skill for hospital staff, steps to reduce waiting time & need assessment of beneficiaries. Participatory research to explore the beneficiary perception needs to be carried out. Keywords: Mental Health, PWMI, MN