Knowledge, attitudes, and experiences in suicide assessment and management: a qualitative study among primary health care workers in southwestern Uganda.

BACKGROUND: Suicide is one of the leading causes of death globally, with over 75% of all suicides occurring in low-and middle-income Countries. Although 25% of people have contact with their health care workers before suicide attempts, most never receive proper suicide assessment and management. We explored primary care health workers' knowledge, attitudes, and experiences in evaluating and managing suicidality in structured primary healthcare services in Uganda. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional qualitative study among health workers in southwestern Uganda from purposively selected health facilities. A semi-structured interview guide was used, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: The in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 individuals (i.e., five medical doctors, two clinical officers, two midwives, and nine nurses) from 12 health facilities in the five selected districts. Four themes emerged from the discussions: a) Knowledge and attitudes of primary healthcare workers in the assessment and management of suicidality, b) Experiences in the assessment and management of suicidality, c) challenges faced by primary healthcare workers while assessing and managing suicidality, and d) Recommendations for improving assessment and management of suicidality in PHC. Most participants were knowledgeable about suicide and the associated risk factors but reported challenges in assessing and managing individuals with suicide risk. The participants freely shared individual experiences and attitudes in the assessment and management of suicide. They also proposed possible ways to improve the evaluation and management of suicidality in PHC, such as setting up a system of managing suicidality, regularizing community sensitization, and training health workers. CONCLUSION: Suicidality is commonly encountered by primary health care workers in Uganda who struggle with its assessment and management. Improving the knowledge and attitudes of primary health care workers would be a big step towards ensuring equitable services.

Mbarara University Research Training Initiative: Experiences and Accomplishments of the MEPI Junior D43 TW010128 Award in Uganda.

OBJECTIVE: In 2015, Mbarara University of Science and Technology was awarded the Mbarara University Research Training Initiative (MURTI) under grant number D43 TW010128 to build capacity of junior faculty to become the next generation of researchers in Africa. In this paper, we document the experiences and achievements of the research capacity building efforts at MUST. METHODS: We conducted a descriptive evaluation study which involved document review and in-depth interviews. We used "Reach" and 'Effectiveness' from the RE-AIM framework to guide the document review, and the organizational theory of implementation effectiveness to guide the in-depth interviews. RESULTS: In the MURTI program, we conducted 17 short courses between August 2015 and July 2021, a total of 6597 attendances were recorded. The most attended courses were responsible conduct of research (n = 826), qualitative research methods (n = 744), and data management (n = 613). Thirty-three fellows were recruited and funded to conduct mentored research leading to 48 publications and 14 extramural grant applications were yielded. From the in-depth interviews, the participants appreciated the research training program, the enhanced research skills attained, and the institutional capacity built. They attributed the success of the program to the training approach of using short courses, readiness of the junior faculty to change, and the supportive environment by the mentors and trainers in the program. CONCLUSION: The D43 TW010128 research training grant-built capacity for the junior faculty at MUST, enhanced their research skills, promoted research capacity institutionally and provided career development for the junior faculty. This was possible due to the positive attitude of the junior faculty (organizational readiness) to change and the supportive environment (mentors and trainers) during implementation of the grant. These two factors provided a favorable institutional climate that guaranteed success of the funding goals.