Identifying a probable suicide cluster in an acute care psychiatric hospital in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Two young male patients who were diagnosed with drug-induced psychosis committed suicide in a psychiatric hospital in South Africa within a month of each other. The psychiatric nurses working in the hospital had never before had to deal with a similar trauma of suicide cluster. AIM: To assess the psychiatric nurses' experiences of suicide cluster in an inpatient psychiatric setting. SETTING: A psychiatric hospital in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. METHOD: A qualitative design was used. The research population consisted of psychiatric nurses who were purposively selected. Data were gathered using in-depth interviews where the participants narrated their experiences of the incidents. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and the data was coded using descriptive and explanatory codes. Trustworthiness was ensured. Ethical principles of justice, autonomy, beneficence and non-maleficence were ensured. RESULTS: An attempt was made to compare the suicides of two patients with the characteristics of cluster suicide to determine if clustering took place. Two young males committed suicide in an institutional setting within a month of each other. Other characteristics present included using the same method, in the same venue and in the same unit. They had similar educational and social backgrounds. The second victim knew the first victim and was aware of what happened. CONCLUSION: When the two events are analysed together it would seem as if clustering did occur. The suicide victims knew each other and victim number 2 was aware of the facts of the first suicide. They were in their early 20's, were mentally ill and committed suicide in the same site, using the same method and were both institutionalised at the time. Members of the mental healthcare team should be made aware of the characteristics of clustering so that when a suicide attempt occurs in a place where mentally-ill individuals are cared for, measures can be put in place to prevent another patient from copying such an event.

Exploring the reasons why women prefer to give birth at home in rural northern Ghana: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Skilled birth care during childbirth is reported in the literature as one critical strategy for reducing maternal morbidity and mortality. Despite the importance of birth care provided by skilled birth attendants, women in rural areas of northern Ghana still give birth utilising the birth services provided by Traditional Birth Attendants. The aim of this study,therefore, was to explore and describe the reasons why a small group of rural women chose homebirth in rural northern Ghana. METHODS: A qualitative approach was adopted to explore the reasons why women prefer to deliver at home in rural areas of northern Ghana. Individual interviews were used to obtain a full description of factors and experiences of women associated with home births in rural areas in Ghana. The research population consisted of 10 women who utilised birth care services provided by Traditional Birth Attendants in a rural community of northern Ghana. Data collected from the interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed to identify themes. RESULTS: This study, which was conducted among a small group of women, yielded interesting results on why these women still give birth at home in rural northern Ghana. It was found out that perceived poor quality of care and conduct of skilled birth attendants; the perception that women received better care from Traditional Birth Attendants; financial constraints and lack of access to healthcare facilities in the rural areas by these women accounted for majority of the reasons why women in rural northern Ghana still give birth at home. CONCLUSION: The study highlighted some barriers experienced by participants to the utilisation of birth care services provided by skilled birth attendants in rural northern Ghana. Management of healthcare facilities should facilitate the implementation of supportive supervision in the maternity units to improve the quality of care and attitude delivered by skilled birth attendants in maternity care in rural communities.

A qualitative study on rural women's experiences relating to the utilisation of birth care provided by skilled birth attendants in the rural areas of Bongo District in the Upper East Region of Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Increasing skilled attendance during childbirth is well established in literature to play a significant role in averting the many preventable maternal deaths that occur in developing countries such as Ghana. Inadequate utilisation of skilled birth care services in Ghana is believed to be a major hindrance to efforts aimed at improving the health of women, especially during delivery. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of rural women regarding the utilisation of skilled birth care provided in the rural areas of Northern Ghana. METHODS: The study adopted a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive research approach, whereby individual interviews, observations and field notes were used to obtain a thick description of women's experiences regarding the utilisation of skilled birth care services in the rural areas in Ghana. A purposive sampling approach was used to select 20 women who utilised skilled birth care in the rural areas of Bongo District of Ghana. Data collected from the interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed to identify themes. RESULTS: The study identified three themes: The women had negative interactions with skilled birth attendants during delivery; women lacked confidence in skilled birth attendants' abilities; skilled birth attendants disrespected the traditional beliefs of the women. CONCLUSION: Most of the participants had negative experiences regarding the utilisation of skilled birth care. There is thus a need to develop strategies that could help address the above concerns of women to facilitate utilisation of skilled birth services in the rural areas in Ghana where there is low utilisation of skilled birth care.

Perceptions of mental healthcare professionals regarding inpatient therapy programmes for adolescents in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to explore and describe the perceptions of mental health professionals with experience working in psychiatric hospitals regarding inpatient therapy programmes for adolescents. METHODS: The study followed a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design. The research population included various mental healthcare professionals with experience working at psychiatric hospitals in the Eastern Cape. Purposive sampling was utilised and semi-structured interviews were conducted. Tesch's eight steps of data analysis were followed and Lincoln and Guba's model of trustworthiness was utilised. RESULTS: Two main themes emerged from the research. The first considered the unique skills and contributions of mental healthcare professionals to an adolescent programme. The second theme acknowledged the need for adolescent therapy programmes to be holistically structured in order to be effective. CONCLUSIONS: The findings showed that inter-professional collaboration is an important aspect of successful inpatient adolescent therapy programmes. Such programmes benefit from the involvement of a wide variety of professionals. However, professionals who are part of a multi-professional team need to be suitably skilled and prepared to meet the needs of the adolescent. Professionals working in therapy programmes for adolescents should have certain personal attributes that make them suitable for working with adolescents. An adolescent inpatient therapy programme requires a team leader or a coordinator to lead the programme to ensure its success. Continuous assessment of each adolescent is essential. Therapy should take place in an adolescent-friendly environment and should be structured yet flexible. The involvement of the adolescents' families is critical, and the programme should be designed with the family in mind. Group therapy is a major component of an adolescent therapy programme and individual therapy is also an important aspect of the programme. Finally, adolescents should only take part in the programme for a short time to avoid institutionalisation.

Cultural beliefs and practices of women influencing home births in rural Northern Ghana.

Background: One of the maternal health care strategies identified by the World Health Organization as being crucial for saving lives of pregnant women, which also serves as an indicator for progress in reducing maternal mortality, is the provision and utilization of skilled birth care. Despite the importance of skilled birth care in preventing maternal morbidity and mortality, many women continue to give birth at home without the assistance of skilled birth attendants in rural communities of Ghana. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the cultural beliefs that potentially influenced the choice of home births among rural women in Ghana. Methods: A qualitative approach was utilized to conduct this study. Twenty participants who delivered at home were purposefully selected and interviewed individually. Semistructured interviews were used to explore the cultural belief patterns that potentially influenced the choice of home births among women in rural Ghana. Thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data. Results: Four major themes emerging from the data analysis which influenced rural women's decision to give birth at home are namely: opportunity to access psychological support through family members, opportunity to access culturally acceptable food, opportunity to adopt a birthing position of choice, and opportunity for safe and culturally accepted disposal of placenta. Conclusion: This study concluded that the cultural beliefs held by these women greatly affected their decision to deliver at home. Hence, there is a need for health care managers to facilitate collaborative practices between the skilled birth attendants and traditional birth attendants. This is because this approach could enhance the integration of the cultural beliefs and practices of women in the orthodox health care delivery system to facilitate the utilization of skilled birth care.

Help-seeking behaviour, barriers to care and experiences of care among persons with depression in Eastern Cape, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the help-seeking behaviour and barriers to care among people with depression in poor resource settings in Sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional population-based study including 977 persons aged 18-40 living in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. The prevalence of depression was investigated with the help of a questionnaire (the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview). Several socio-economic variables, statements on help-seeking and perceptions of earlier mental health care were included. Data collection was performed from March to July 2012. RESULTS: The prevalence of depression was 31.4%. People aged 18-29 and those with no or low incomes were less likely to seek help. Promotive factors for help-seeking included having social support and tuberculosis comorbidity. Of all people with depression in this sample, 57% did not seek health care at all even though they felt they needed it. Of the variety of barriers identified, those of most significance were related to stigma, lack of knowledge of their own illness and its treatability as well as financial constraints. LIMITATION: Recall bias may be present and the people identified with depression were asked if they ever felt so emotionally troubled that they felt they should seek help; however, we do not know if they had depression at the time they referred to. CONCLUSIONS: Depression is highly prevalent among young adults in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa; however, many do not seek help. Health planners should increase mental health literacy in the communities and improve the competence of the health staff.