Global Initiative Launches to Transform Mental Health Assessment in 25+ Countries
June 11, 2025
The Community Health Assessment for Recovery in Mental Health (CHARMH) project aims to enhance access to mental health services globally, including in low resource settings. This pioneering initiative led by the interRAI Network for Mental Health (iNMH) spans more than 25 countries. CHARMH was launched in Fall 2024 with researchers, clinicians, and policy experts collaborating to transform how mental health needs are identified and addressed globally.
The CHARMH project introduces a new approach that enables lay health workers to support standardized mental health assessments using the interRAI Self-reported Assessment for Mental Health (SAMH) system. In addition, SAMH can be self-administered by persons who feel comfortable using conventional web-based software.
“This initiative represents a fundamental shift in mental health service delivery,” explains Dr. John Hirdes, iNMH Chair and a co-lead investigator for the project. “By empowering lay mental health workers to conduct meaningful assessments, we can dramatically expand access to mental health supports in regions where professional resources are scarce.”
The first phase of the multi-country study will involve completing the SAMH with at least 100 adults with mental health needs per site. Participants will be assessed using the SAMH tool, which covers mental health concerns, psychosocial functioning, physical health, environmental factors, and perceived needs. The assessment is expected to take about 30 minutes to complete. They will also provide feedback on their experience using the SAMH to provide insights about feasibility and cross-cultural acceptability of this approach.
The project addresses a critical global challenge: while mental health conditions affect one in eight people worldwide, most have no access to quality assessment or care due to severe shortages of mental health professionals. Dr. Alice Hirdes, interRAI Senior Country Fellow – Brazil reports “We used the SAMH in a longitudinal study of over 500 persons affected by terrible floods in the Porto Alegre region. These data will provide important insights to the mental health consequences of natural disasters.”
According to Dr. Chris Perlman, Vice-Chair of iNMH, the SAMH also provides a valuable new approach to enhancing measurement-based care in mental health services. “Some persons with mental health needs can use the SAMH on their own as a ‘patient-reported outcome measure or PROM’. PROMs can help monitor progress in their mental health recovery.”
Countries that have already begun the study include Canada, Brazil, India, Australia, Belgium, Curacao, Ethiopia, and the US. Many more countries from the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Oceania are set to begin. Each country’s team will adapt the approach to their specific contexts while maintaining the standardized core assessment system that allows for international comparisons.
After the initial pilot phase ending in December 2025, the project will evaluate findings and refine the SAMH tool based on feedback from all participating countries.
The project’s innovations extend beyond the assessment itself to include the dramatic expansion of interRAI’s collaborative international research network to bring together experts from diverse resource settings to address common challenges in mental health care delivery.
interRAI iNMH meeting on SAMH