abstract: 'BackgroundPrimary care physicians (PCPs) working in mental health care in Tunisia often lack knowledge and skills needed to adequately address mental health-related issues. To address these lacunas, a training based on the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) Intervention Guide (IG) was offered to PCPs working in the Greater Tunis area between February and April 2016. While the mhGAP-IG has been used extensively in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to help build non-specialists'' mental health capacity, little research has focused on how contextual factors interact with the implemented training program to influence its expected outcomes. This paper''s objective is to fill that lack.MethodsWe conducted a case study with a purposeful sample of 18 trained PCPs. Data was collected by semi-structured interviews between March and April 2016. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis.ResultsParticipants identified more barriers than facilitators when describing contextual factors influencing the mhGAP-based training''s expected outcomes. Barriers were regrouped into five categories: structural factors (e.g., policies, social context, local workforce development, and physical aspects of the environment), organizational factors (e.g., logistical issues for the provision of care and collaboration within and across healthcare organizations), provider factors (e.g., previous mental health experience and personal characteristics), patient factors (e.g., beliefs about the health system and healthcare professionals, and motivation to seek care), and innovation factors (e.g., training characteristics). These contextual factors interacted with the implemented training to influence knowledge about pharmacological treatments and symptoms of mental illness, confidence in providing treatment, negative beliefs about certain mental health conditions, and the understanding of the role of PCPs in mental health care delivery. In addition, post-training, participants still felt uncomfortable with certain aspects of treatment and the management of some mental health conditions.ConclusionsFindings highlight the complexity of implementing a mhGAP-based training given its interaction with contextual factors to influence the attainment of expected outcomes. Results may be used to tailor structural, organizational, provider, patient, and innovation factors prior to future implementations of the mhGAP-based training in Tunisia. Findings may also be used by decision-makers interested in implementing the mhGAP-IG training in other LMICs.' affiliation: 'Spagnolo, J (Corresponding Author), Univ Montreal, IRSPUM, Sch Publ Hlth, Montreal, PQ H3N 1X9, Canada. Spagnolo, Jessica; Champagne, Francois, Univ Montreal, IRSPUM, Sch Publ Hlth, Montreal, PQ H3N 1X9, Canada. Leduc, Nicole, Univ Montreal, Sch Publ Hlth, Montreal, PQ, Canada. Melki, Wahid; Bram, Nesrine, Univ Tunis El Manar, Razi Hosp, Tunis, Tunisia. Piat, Myra, McGill Univ, Douglas Mental Hlth Univ Inst, Montreal, PQ, Canada. Laporta, Marc, McGill Univ, Montreal WHO PAHO Collaborating Ctr Res \& Trainin, Montreal, PQ, Canada. Guesmi, Imen, Ctr Sch \& Univ Med Manouba, Manouba, Tunisia. Charfi, Fatma, Univ Tunis El Manar, Mongi Slim Hosp, Tunis, Tunisia.' article-number: '1398' author: Spagnolo, Jessica and Champagne, Francois and Leduc, Nicole and Melki, Wahid and Piat, Myra and Laporta, Marc and Bram, Nesrine and Guesmi, Imen and Charfi, Fatma author-email: jessica.maria-violanda.spagnolo@umontreal.ca author_list: - family: Spagnolo given: Jessica - family: Champagne given: Francois - family: Leduc given: Nicole - family: Melki given: Wahid - family: Piat given: Myra - family: Laporta given: Marc - family: Bram given: Nesrine - family: Guesmi given: Imen - family: Charfi given: Fatma da: '2023-09-28' doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-6261-4 eissn: 1471-2458 files: [] journal: BMC PUBLIC HEALTH keywords: 'Implementation; mhGAP; Training; Mental health; Primary care; Physicians; Case study; Tunisia' keywords-plus: MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES; DISORDERS; GAP language: English month: DEC 20 number-of-cited-references: '71' orcid-numbers: 'Spagnolo, Jessica/0000-0002-1125-3121 Charfi, Fatma/0000-0002-5171-2767' papis_id: ade6f79cd987993f3a7cfad6a4cf0abc ref: Spagnolo2018wefind researcherid-numbers: 'Charfi, Fatma/AAZ-8912-2020 ' times-cited: '12' title: '``We find what we look for, and we look for what we know″: factors interacting with a mental health training program to influence its expected outcomes in Tunisia' type: article unique-id: WOS:000454103900006 usage-count-last-180-days: '1' usage-count-since-2013: '5' volume: '18' web-of-science-categories: Public, Environmental \& Occupational Health year: '2018'