| 1. |
- Alem, Atalay, et al.
(author)
-
Community-based mental health care in Africa : mental health workers' views
- 2008
-
In: World Psychiatry. - Milano : Elsevier. - 1723-8617 .- 2051-5545. ; 7:1, s. 54-57
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has for long proposed the development of community-based mental health services worldwide. However, the progress toward community mental health care in most African countries is still hampered by a lack of resources, with specialist psychiatric care essentially based in large, centrally located mental hospitals. It is again time to reconsider the direction of mental health care in Africa. Based on a small inquiry to a number of experienced mental health professionals in sub-Saharan Africa, we discuss what a community concept of mental health care might mean in Africa. There is a general agreement that mental health services should be integrated in primary health care. A critical issue for success of this model is perceived to be provision of appropriate supervision and continuing education for primary care workers. The importance of collaboration between modem medicine and traditional healers is stressed and the paper ends in a plea for WHO to take the initiative and develop mental health services according to the special needs and the sociocultural conditions prevailing in sub-Saharan Africa.
|
|
| 2. |
- Anbesse, Birke, et al.
(author)
-
Migration and mental health : a study of low-income Ethiopian women working in Middle Eastern countries.
- 2009
-
In: International Journal of Social Psychiatry. - : Sage Publications. - 0020-7640 .- 1741-2854. ; 55:6, s. 557-68
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Few studies have explored influences on mental health of migrants moving between non-Western countries. Methods: Focus group discussions were used to explore the experiences of Ethiopian female domestic migrants to Middle Eastern countries, comparing those who developed severe mental illness with those remaining mentally well. Discussion: Prominent self-identified threats to mental health included exploitative treatment, enforced cultural isolation, undermining of cultural identity and disappointment in not achieving expectations. Participants countered these risks by affirming their cultural identity and establishing socio-cultural supports. Conclusions: Mental health of migrant domestic workers may be jeopardized by stressors, leading to experience of social defeat.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Hanlon, Charlotte, et al.
(author)
-
Between life and death : exploring the sociocultural context of antenatal mental distress in rural Ethiopia
- 2010
-
In: Archives of Women's Mental Health. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-1816 .- 1435-1102. ; 13:5, s. 385-393
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The high prevalence of antenatal common mental disorders in sub-Saharan Africa compared to high-income countries is poorly understood. This qualitative study explored the sociocultural context of antenatal mental distress in a rural Ethiopian community. Five focus group discussions and 25 in-depth interviews were conducted with purposively sampled community stakeholders. Inductive analysis was used to develop final themes. Worry about forthcoming delivery and fears for the woman's survival were prominent concerns of all participants, but only rarely perceived to be pathological in intensity. Sociocultural practices such as continuing physical labour, dietary restriction, prayer and rituals to protect against supernatural attack were geared towards safe delivery and managing vulnerability. Despite strong cultural norms to celebrate pregnancy, participants emphasised that many pregnancies were unwanted and an additional burden on top of pre-existing economic and marital difficulties. Short birth interval and pregnancy out of wedlock were both seen as shameful and potent sources of mental distress. The notion that pregnancy in traditional societies is uniformly a time of joy and happiness is misplaced. Although antenatal mental distress may be self-limiting for many women, in those with enduring life difficulties, including poverty and abusive relationships, poor maternal mental health may persist.
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Hanlon, Charlotte, et al.
(author)
-
Lessons learned in developing community mental health care in Africa
- 2010
-
In: World Psychiatry. - 1723-8617 .- 2051-5545. ; 9:3, s. 185-189
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper summarizes the findings for the African region of the WPA task force on steps, obstacles and mistakes to avoid in the implementation of community mental health care. We present an overview of mental health policies, plans and programmes in the African region; a summary of relevant research and studies; a critical appraisal of community mental health service components; a discussion of the key challenges, obstacles and lessons learned, and some recommendations for the development of community mental health services in the African region.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Hanlon, Charlotte, et al.
(author)
-
Postnatal mental distress in relation to the sociocultural practices of childbirth : an exploratory qualitative study from Ethiopia
- 2009
-
In: Social Science and Medicine. - : Elsevier. - 0277-9536 .- 1873-5347. ; 69:8, s. 1211-1219
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sociocultural patterning of the postnatal period in non-Western settings has been hypothesised to protect against postnatal depression. In 2004, in a predominantly rural area of Ethiopia, we conducted 25 in-depth interviews and five focus group discussions with purposively selected participants including perinatal women, fathers, grandmothers, traditional and religious leaders, birth attendants and community leaders. Our main objectives were (1) to examine societal recognition of problematic distress states in the postnatal period and relate this to Western conceptualisations of postnatal depression and (2) to relate the occurrence of distress states to sociocultural patterning of the postnatal period. Inductive analysis was employed to identify salient themes. Participants spontaneously described culturally problematic distress states occurring in the postnatal period, although did not consider them to be illness. Vulnerability and danger of the postnatal period was emphasised, with risk of supernatural attack and physical harm leading to distress states. Participants also spoke of how gender disadvantage and economic strain intersect with cultural patterning of the postnatal period, threatening mental health due to the resulting disappointed expectations and exclusion, as well as exacerbation of pre-existing problems. Cultural dissonance, where a person's beliefs or actions are out of kilter with strong prevailing cultural norms, may be an important risk factor for postnatal distress in rural Ethiopia, where the postnatal period is extensively culturally elaborated.
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
