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RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS

Nursing, Pshychiatric Mental Health, Rehabilitation, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
4

Scopus Publications

58

Scholar Citations

4

Scholar h-index

3

Scholar i10-index

Scopus Publications

  • Perspectives of Community Nurses on Treatment Engagement of Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMI): A Qualitative Study from South India
    Revathi Somanathan, Sailaxmi Gandhi, Thanapal Sivakumar, Narayana Manjunatha, Deepak Jayarajan, Jagadisha Thirthalli, Rajani Parthasarathy
    Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 2024
    Background: There is increasing evidence of the need for treatment engagement between Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMIs) and Mental Health Professionals (MHPs). This therapeutic process involves collaborative work between patients and MHPs, which improves the condition. Community nurses are uniquely positioned to facilitate this process as they act as the focal point of interaction between patients and the health system. Methods: This qualitative study explored the community nurses’ experiences in treatment engagement with PwSMI through eight group interviews of 35 community nurses from District Mental Health Programs (DMHPs) across Karnataka (South India) from February 2020 to March 2020. The audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed and coded to arrive at themes and subthemes. Results: The major themes identified were factors influencing treatment engagement, strategies to tackle treatment nonengagement, and challenges in dealing with nonengagement. The reasons for nonengagement were lack of insight and lack of knowledge of sociocultural, logistic, and treatment-related factors. The DMHP teams contacted patients through phone calls, home visits, and liaisons with health workers and intervened with them through education and depot injections. The major challenges were difficulty conducting home visits, distances, the unavailability of medications, and the need for adequate infrastructure and human resources. Conclusion: Community nurses address a few factors of nonengagement, such as insight, sociocultural factors, and treatment-related factors. Addressing the systemic challenges and adequate training of nurses in intervening in the dropped-out PwSMIs would help to reduce the treatment gap.
  • Admission of persons with disabilities into nursing and midwifery courses: Progress made by the Indian Nursing Council
    Hareesh Angothu, Sharad Philip, Revathi Somanathan, Krishnareddy Shanivaram Reddy, Deepak Jayarajan, Krishna Prasad Muliyala, Jagadisha Thirthalli
    Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, 2020
    India's Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 (PWD Act, 1995) mandated a minimum enrollment reservation of 3% for persons with disability (PwDs) across all educational courses supported by government funding. Following this, the Indian Nursing Council (INC) issued regulations limiting such an enrollment quota to PwDs with lower limb locomotor disability ranging between 40%-50%. The Medical Council of India (MCI) also restricted admissions under the PwD category to PwDs with a lower limb locomotor disability to comply with the Act. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016, which replaced the PwD Act, 1995, raised the minimum reservation to 5% for all government-funded institutions of higher education and extended this reservation to PwDs under 21 different clinical conditions, rather than the seven conditions included under the PwD Act, 1995. Following the enactment of the RPwD Act, 2016, the MCI issued regulations that allowed PwDs with locomotor disability and those with a few other types of disabilities in the range of 40%-80%, to pursue graduate and postgraduate medical courses, while the INC has not made any changes. This article addresses the complexities of inclusion of PwDs in the healthcare workforce, offers suggestions for inclusive measures; and compares the INC admission regulation released in 2019 to the MCI 2019 admission guidelines for graduate and postgraduate medical courses.
  • Uttarakhand Disaster 2013: A Report on Psychosocial Adversities Experienced by Children and Adolescents
    Dhandapani Aneelraj, Channaveerachari Naveen Kumar, Revathi Somanathan, Dhanya Chandran, Suvarna Joshi, Prajna Paramita, Sekar Kasi, Roopesh N. Bangalore, Suresh Bada Math
    Indian Journal of Pediatrics, 2016
  • Psychiatric and medical disorders in the after math of the uttarakhand disaster: Assessment, approach, and future challenges
    Naveen Kumar Channaveerachari, Aneel Raj, Suvarna Joshi, Prajna Paramita, Revathi Somanathan, Dhanya Chandran, Sekar Kasi, N. Roopesh Bangalore, Suresh Bada Math
    Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 2015
    PURPOSE: To present the descriptive data on the frequency of medical and psychiatric morbidity and also to discuss various pertinent issues relevant to the disaster management, the future challenges and psychosocial needs of the 2013 floods in Uttarakhand, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Observation was undertaken by the disaster management team of National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in the worst affected four districts of Uttarakhand. Qualified psychiatrists diagnosed the patients using the International Classification of Diseases-10 criteria. Data were collected by direct observation, interview of the survivors, group sessions, individual key-informant interview, individual session, and group interventions. RESULTS: Patients with physical health problems formed the majority of treatment seekers (39.6%) in this report. Only about 2% had disaster induced psychiatric diagnoses. As was expected, minor mental disorders in the form of depressive disorders and anxiety disorders formed majority of the psychiatric morbidity. Substance use disorders appear to be very highly prevalent in the community; however, we were not able to assess the morbidity systematically. CONCLUSIONS: The mental health infrastructure and manpower is abysmally inadequate. There is an urgent need to implement the National Mental Health Program to increase the mental health infrastructure and services in the four major disaster-affected districts.

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Nurse-led treatment engagement interventions for persons with severe mental illnesses in community settings
    NM Revathi Somanathan, Sailaxmi Gandhi, T Sivakumar
    World Journal of Psychiatry 15 (9) , 2025
    2025
    Citations: 1
  • Perspectives of Community Nurses on Treatment Engagement of Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMI): A Qualitative Study from South India
    R Somanathan, S Gandhi, T Sivakumar, N Manjunatha, D Jayarajan, ...
    Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine 46 (2), 131-138 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 1
  • Abstracts of the WASP Asia Pacific Hybrid Congress 2021.
    WS Psychiatry
    WASP Asia Pacific Hybrid Congress 2021. 3 (3), p 234-333 , 2021
    2021
  • Admission of persons with disabilities into nursing and midwifery courses: Progress made by the Indian Nursing Council.
    H Angothu, S Philip, R Somanathan, KS Reddy, D Jayarajan, KP Muliyala, ...
    Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, 1-18 , 2020
    2020
    Citations: 1
  • Uttarakhand disaster 2013: A report on psychosocial adversities experienced by children and adolescents
    D Aneelraj, CN Kumar, R Somanathan, D Chandran, S Joshi, P Paramita, ...
    The Indian Journal of Pediatrics 83 (4), 316-321 , 2016
    2016
    Citations: 17
  • Psychiatric and medical disorders in the after math of the uttarakhand disaster: Assessment, approach, and future challenges
    NK Channaveerachari, A Raj, S Joshi, P Paramita, R Somanathan, ...
    Indian journal of psychological medicine 37 (2), 138-143 , 2015
    2015
    Citations: 24
  • Psychosocial impact of the Uttarakhand flood disaster on elderly survivors
    D Chandran, N Roopesh, A Raj, N Channaveerachari, S Joshi, ...
    Indian Journal of Gerontology 29 (1), 62-76 , 2015
    2015
    Citations: 10
  • Assessment of the attitude of staff nurses towards hospitalised psychiatric patients in Kolar (Karnataka)
    R Sreevani, S Revathi
    Nursing Journal of India 103 (1), B12 , 2012
    2012
    Citations: 4

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Psychiatric and medical disorders in the after math of the uttarakhand disaster: Assessment, approach, and future challenges
    NK Channaveerachari, A Raj, S Joshi, P Paramita, R Somanathan, ...
    Indian journal of psychological medicine 37 (2), 138-143 , 2015
    2015
    Citations: 24
  • Uttarakhand disaster 2013: A report on psychosocial adversities experienced by children and adolescents
    D Aneelraj, CN Kumar, R Somanathan, D Chandran, S Joshi, P Paramita, ...
    The Indian Journal of Pediatrics 83 (4), 316-321 , 2016
    2016
    Citations: 17
  • Psychosocial impact of the Uttarakhand flood disaster on elderly survivors
    D Chandran, N Roopesh, A Raj, N Channaveerachari, S Joshi, ...
    Indian Journal of Gerontology 29 (1), 62-76 , 2015
    2015
    Citations: 10
  • Assessment of the attitude of staff nurses towards hospitalised psychiatric patients in Kolar (Karnataka)
    R Sreevani, S Revathi
    Nursing Journal of India 103 (1), B12 , 2012
    2012
    Citations: 4
  • Nurse-led treatment engagement interventions for persons with severe mental illnesses in community settings
    NM Revathi Somanathan, Sailaxmi Gandhi, T Sivakumar
    World Journal of Psychiatry 15 (9) , 2025
    2025
    Citations: 1
  • Perspectives of Community Nurses on Treatment Engagement of Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMI): A Qualitative Study from South India
    R Somanathan, S Gandhi, T Sivakumar, N Manjunatha, D Jayarajan, ...
    Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine 46 (2), 131-138 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 1
  • Admission of persons with disabilities into nursing and midwifery courses: Progress made by the Indian Nursing Council.
    H Angothu, S Philip, R Somanathan, KS Reddy, D Jayarajan, KP Muliyala, ...
    Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, 1-18 , 2020
    2020
    Citations: 1
  • Abstracts of the WASP Asia Pacific Hybrid Congress 2021.
    WS Psychiatry
    WASP Asia Pacific Hybrid Congress 2021. 3 (3), p 234-333 , 2021
    2021