Indian Journal of Health Social Work
(UGC CARE List Journal)
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume 8 | Issue 1 | January-June, 2026
Editorial
PAPER LEAKS AND YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH: WHEN EXAMINATION INJUSTICE BECOMES A PUBLIC MENTAL HEALTH CONCERN IN INDIA
A student sits at a study table late at night. Books
are open, notes are scattered around, and the
examination date is getting closer. For months,
sometimes years, the student has prepared for one
i mportant examination. Parents may have spent
money on coaching, books and travel. Teachers have
encouraged the student to work harder, while relatives
ask about marks, rank and future plans. Slowly, the
student may begin to believe that one examination
will decide the next stage of life.
- 28 January 2026
Review Article
GENDER PERSPECTIVES ON HEALTHCARE ACCESS IN UNIVERSITIES
The access to adequate healthcare services
is no longer considered a question of welfare
demand but invoked as a matter of right (WHO,
2023). These services are channeled through
various support systems, largely through
infrastructures which caters to the various
strata of our social system. Such is the case
for the students who are expected to receive
adequate healthcare support having an
enabling environment for their academic growth in higher education institutions yet the
persistence of the cases of absence of basic
amenities or inaccessibility to existing services
suggest the undermining of their dignity and
autonomy. Women students are highly
vulnerable to these infrastructural limitations
as their academic performance and wellbeing
are disproportionately affected than the male
students.
- 28 January 2026
DOES PRADHAN MANTRI JAN AROGYA YOJANA (PMJAY) PROTECT ECONOMICALLY VULNERABLE POPULATION FROM FINANCIAL RISK? : A NARRATIVE REVIEW
More than 50% of health expenditure in India
is borne by families through out-of-pocket
payments (OOPE) (Nanda & Sharma, 2023).
In many cases, such high OOPE becomes
catastrophic, pushing households into
financial distress. Both OOPE and catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) have either the
potential to impoverish families (Sinha et al.,
2016) or preventing them from accessing
health care. In this regard, the health
insurance scheme is one of the mechanisms
to ensure health care (Narayanan & Kodali,
2020). In order to shield the economically
disadvantaged population from out-of-pocket
medical expenses (OOPE) that could worsen
their situation, the Indian government has
implemented a number of welfare programs.
Pradhan Mantri and Ayushman Bharath One
program that gives each household Rs.
5,00,000 year is Jan Arogya Yojana AB-PMJAY.
Forty percent of Indians are hospitalized for
secondary and tertiary care.
- 28 January 2026
POST-RELIGIOUS IDENTITY FORMATION AND WELL-BEING: A NARRATIVE REVIEW
Religious identity is deeply connected with
personal meaning, social belonging, and
cultural integration. For many individuals,
leaving religion represents more than the loss
of a belief system; it involves a fundamental
reconstruction of self-identity and social
networks. The process of leaving religious
identity has been variously described as
deconversion, disaffiliation, and religious exit.
While existing research has extensively
explored the mental health benefits of
religiosity, the psychological outcomes of
leaving religion remain less systematically
examined.
This review aims to consolidate empirical
evidence on how post-religious identity
formation affects well-being. Specifically, it
examines (a) mental health outcomes such as
depression and anxiety; (b) subjective well
being indicators, including life satisfaction;
and (c) moderating factors including cultural
context, stigma, and community support.
- 28 January 2026
ORIGINAL Articles
OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AMONG SOCIAL WORK PROFESSIONALS IN HEALTH SETTINGS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MEDICAL AND PSYCHIATRIC SOCIAL WORKERS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL
The purpose of social work practice has
gradually evolved from simply providing
services to empowering individuals through
structured helping processes, problem-solving
approaches, and enhancement of social
functioning. In healthcare settings, Medical
Social Workers (MSWs) and Psychiatric Social
Workers (PSWs) play a significant role as
members of multidisciplinary teams. Their
responsibilities include conducting intake
interviews, socio-economic assessments,
referrals, financial guidance, ward rounds,
counseling, liaison with non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), and facilitating the
i mplementation of government welfare
schemes for Below Poverty Line (BPL) patients. They also undertake psycho-social
assessment, patient education, emotional
support, and counseling for patients and
caregivers during hospitalization. In addition
to clinical responsibilities, social workers
contribute academically through research,
training, supervision of students, and
administratively through program planning,
documentation, and maintenance of records.
- 28 January 2026
CAREGIVER BURDEN AND ASSOCIATED SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS AMONG FAMILY CAREGIVERS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS
Family caregivers play a crucial role in
sustaining treatment adherence, ensuring
safety, and promoting recovery in individuals
with severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major
psychosis. In India and similar Low Middle
Income Countries, where mental health
i nfrastructure is overstretched and
underfunded, families are often the sole
caregivers, filling critical service gaps (Kohn
et al., 2004).
Caregiving under these conditions comes at
a significant personal cost. Chronic caregiving
is known to cause physical exhaustion,
emotional fatigue, financial strain, and social
i solation (Chadda, 2014). Caregivers
frequently report experiencing symptoms of
anxiety, depression, and burnout, a
phenomenon now recognized as “caregiver
burden” (Zarit et al., 1980). Despite these
challenges, their needs remain largely
unaddressed in routine psychiatric care.
- 28 January 2026
IMPOSTER SYNDROME AND GRIT AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: USING MEDIATION MODEL
In today’s world in general population anxiety
and self-doubt have increased due to
academic and professional pressure, same
scenario in India also which frequently leads to Imposter syndrome, a state of mind in
which accomplishments are attributed to
external forces, rather than one’s own skills
or abilities. Recent years have seen a growing
focus on this psychological phenomenon,
especially concerning high achievers.
Imposter syndrome was first discovered by
Clance and Imes (1978) considered as
psychological phenomenon found in a study
of women in academic settings that includes
faculty,
graduate
students
and
undergraduates. It refer to high achiever who
despite gathering information from outer
source consistently question their abilities and
accomplishment (Siraj et., 2024) and often
attribute their success to networking, luck,
timing, lowering standard and charisma like
external factors (Holden et al., n.d.). 45% of
students was shown to suffer from Imposter
syndrome according to studies (Agrawal et al.,
2025).
- 28 January 2026
COPING STRATEGIES AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH RESILIENCE AMONG FLOOD SURVIVORS IN SAMBA DISTRICT, JAMMU AND KASHMIR: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
Natural disasters, particularly floods,
represent a profound global public health
challenge, causing not only immediate
physical devastation but also a persistent
psychosocial crisis (World Health Organization
[WHO], 2022). Beyond the visible destruction
lies a complex and prolonged mental health
burden. Flood survivors often exhibit
significantly elevated rates of post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and
depression, with systematic reviews reporting
substantial PTSD prevalence across natural
disaster survivors (Beaglehole et al., 2018).
These psychological effects are frequently
exacerbated by chronic post-disaster
stressors such as financial instability,
displacement, and grief, which can hinder
individual and community recovery for years
(Mason et al., 2010).
Central to navigating this adversity are the
interconnected psychological constructs of
coping and resilience. Coping refers to the
conscious cognitive and behavioral efforts
individuals employ to manage, tolerate, or
reduce stress (Lazarus &Folkman, 1984).
These strategies range from adaptive
approaches like active problem-solving and
seeking emotional support to maladaptive
responses such as denial or substance use.
Resilience, in turn, is the dynamic process of
adapting and ‘bouncing back’ from significant
trauma, representing not the absence of
pathology, but the presence of protective
factors that foster successful adaptation
(Windle, 2011).
- 28 January 2026
A STUDY ON IMPACT OF STRESS EXPERIENCED BY ASPIRANTS WHO UNDERWENT RESIDENTIAL COMPETITIVE EXAM COACHING
India’s higher education system is among the
l argest in the world, yet entry into
professional programs particularly medicine
and engineering remains fiercely competitive.
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test
(NEET) and the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) are among the most demanding
national-level entrance examinations,
attracting millions of aspirants each year for
a limited number of seats. In 2023, more than
1.8 million students registered for NEET to
compete for fewer than 92,000 MBBS seats,
while nearly one million appeared for JEE for
restricted engineering admissions. To bridge
the widening gap between aspirations and
opportunities, residential coaching centers
have proliferated across the country,
especially in states such as Rajasthan and
Kerala. These centers provide intensive
academic training, regimented routines, and
long study hours; however, their preparation
model has been increasingly associated with
adverse psychological consequences. Reports
from Kota, the nation’s largest coaching hub,
documented 26 student suicides in 2023 the
highest ever in a single year, while National
Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics
revealed that more than 13,000 students
across India died by suicide in 2022, with over
1,100 cases linked to exam-related stress.
These alarming figures underscore the
urgency of examining aspirants’ lived
experiences within such environments,
particularly in Kerala, where coaching culture
is deeply embedded but underexplored in
research.
- 28 January 2026
Brief COmmunication
THE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL AND CANNABIS ON NEUROCOGNITIVE FUNCTIONS
Clinical evidence indicates that the long-term
use of cannabis may produce cognitive
impairment in the higher cognitive functions
of memory, attention, and organization, as
well as in the integration of complex
information (Sadock, et al., 2015). Previous
studies have reported cognitive deficits in
alcohol dependence patients, which include
short-term memory deficits (Knight &
Longmore 1994) and executive function
deficits (Noel et al. 2001). Tamm et al. (2013)
examined 42 cannabis users and reported that
i ndividuals who began using cannabis
regularly before age 16 may have poore executive functioning than users who began
later. Indlekofer et al. (2009) examined the
cognitive functioning of 284 participants with
alcohol and cannabis. Participants were
administered neuropsychological tests which
consists of memory, executive function test
(WCST and Stroop test) and observed poor
executive function.
- 28 January 2026
SPATIO-TEMPORAL RISK MAPPING OF JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS/ACUTE ENCEPHALITIS SYNDROME IN THE GAYA AND NAWADA DISTRICTS OF BIHAR
Vector-borne diseases are illnesses
transferred to humans by communicators such
as mosquitoes, sandflies, and evil vectors.
These are imposed by parasites, viruses, and bacteria, and these diseases form major
groups of infectious diseases worldwide, with
serious threats to public health. According to
the Global Vector Control Response of WHO
in 2017, vector-borne diseases covered 17
percent of the total global burden of
communicable diseases with more than
700,000 deaths yearly.1 The shocking truth is
that vector-borne diseases risk has been
i mposed on nearly 80% of the world
population, while almost half of the world’s
population is at risk from two or more vector
borne diseases.
In India, the National Vector Borne Disease
Control Programme has considered Malaria,
Dengue, Kala-azar (Leishmaniasis), Lymphatic
Filariasis, Chikungunya, and Japanese
Encephalitis as some of the most important
vector-borne diseases.2 Furthermore, there
have also been reports of localized outbreaks
of diseases such as Kyasanur Forest Disease
(KFD) and Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever
(CCHF) in some specific regions. These
diseases have a myriad effect on the general
health of people, with approximately millions
at risk and several thousand falling ill every
year. In the year 2016 alone, India recorded
approximately one million malaria cases, over
1 lakh cases of dengue, more than 60,000
cases of Chikungunya, 6,000 cases of Kala
azar, and over 1,500 cases of Japanese
Encephalitis.
- 28 January 2026
INSTRUCTION FOR AUTHORS
The Indian Journal of Health Social Work (IJHSW) is
the culmination of the collective effort of social work
professionals and academicians across the country to create a
platform for exploration, discussion, research, and action on
the social determinants and correlates of health care.
The Indian Journal of Health Social Work is a biannual journal
published in January and July of each year. The IJHSW is an
official publication of the All India Association of Medical Social
Work Professionals (AIAMSWP) and is indexed in the UGC
CARE list. The journal accepts original research work, review
articles, case reports, informative materials, & brief
communications related to social work practice in health care.
- 28 January 2026
ISSN: 2582-1393 (online)
UGC Care List Journal