Challenges of a Program for Public Mental Health Education with an Emphasis on Self-Care in Primary Health Care: A Qualitative Study

Background: Mental health education aims to increase mental health literacy (MHL) and plays a crucial role on mental health of community members. However, but its implementation in primary health care (PHC) faces obstacles and problems. Therefore, this study was conducted to explain the challenges of the public mental health education program with an emphasis on self-care in Iran's PHC. Methods: This was a qualitative study with a content analysis approach. The research sample consisted of 20 stakeholders through purposive sampling with maximum diversity. This study was conducted in Tehran and Alborz, Iran. Data were collected through in-depth and semi-structured interviews and analyzed by Graneheim and Lundman approach. Results: By analyzing data, the challenges were categorized into six main themes and 15 categories. The six main themes included educational challenges, inefficiency of the educational method, unsuitable intersectoral collaboration, infrastructural challenges, inadequate resources and barriers to participation in education. Conclusions: Given multidimensionality challenges and obstacles, reform and adoption of appropriate implementation methods using mental health experts seem necessary. Future research and policies could explore ways to optimize program implementation in PHC.