Public Mental Health, Traumatic Stress and Human Rights Violations in Low-Income Countries

2006 ◽  
pp. 1-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. V. Joop ◽  
M. Jong
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Public Mental Health ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Human Rights Violations

Self-inflicted injuries: The intersection of mental health and traumatic injury in Malawi

2021 ◽  
pp. 004947552110131
Author(s):  
Brittney M Williams ◽  
Linda Kayange ◽  
Laura Purcell ◽  
Jared Gallaher ◽  
Anthony Charles
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Hospital Mortality ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Retrospective Review ◽  
Primary Outcome ◽  
Trauma Registry ◽  
Traumatic Injury ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Intentional Injury ◽  
Fall From Height

Self-inflicted injury, the most common form of intentional injury, disproportionately affects low-income countries, but is poorly described in this setting. This retrospective review of the 2008–2018 trauma registry at a referral hospital in Malawi included all victims of intentional injury ≥10 years. Self-inflicted injuries were compared to assaults. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Common mechanisms of self-inflicted injuries were fall from height, poisoning, and penetrating injury. In-hospital mortality from self-inflicted injury was 8.8% vs. 1.9% for assault. Those who died from self-inflicted injury were more often older (median 34 vs. 26 years, p < 0.001), male (91.9% vs. 67.8%, p < 0.001), unemployed (32.8% vs. 6.4%, p < 0.001), and most commonly died by hanging (60%). The odds of in-hospital mortality after self-inflicted injury was four times assault (OR 4.0 [95% CI 1.4–11.5], p = 0.01). The trauma registry proved useful for describing self-inflicted injury in this setting.

Presence through absence? Understanding the role of capital in the African Human Rights Action Plan

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 579-600
Author(s):  
Obiora Chinedu Okafor ◽  
Sanaa Ahmed ◽  
Sylvia Bawa ◽  
Ibironke Odumosu-Ayanu
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Significant Extent ◽  
Global Capital ◽  
Market Practices

AbstractThis study examines the African Human Rights Action Plan (AHRAP) through the lens of Upendra Baxi's germinal theory on the emergence in our time of a ‘trade-related, market-friendly human rights’ (TREMF) thesis that is challenging the specific understandings of ‘people-centric’ human rights that are predicated in the letter and spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDH). Baxi contends, instead, that the dominant strands of the contemporary understandings of human rights are – for the most part – designed to protect the interests of global capital. That said, human rights frameworks in low-income countries need to be studied with a view to what they say and don't say about global capital. Despite its attempt to facilitate a progressive realisation of human rights in Africa, the AHRAP does not rise far enough above the TREMF paradigm to re-locate itself within the UDH one. This is due to the AHRAP not adequately theorising and analysing the role of capital in the (non)realisation of human rights in Africa. By allowing trade and market practices to slip to a significant extent beyond its purview, the AHRAP privileges – to a significant degree – the needs/interests of capital over the human rights of ordinary Africans. That is, the victims of the excesses of capital in Africa are reincarnated in the AHRAP document by the fact of their exclusion from it.

Impact of Covid-19 on the mental health needs of asylum seekers in Australia

2021 ◽  
pp. 103985622110054
Author(s):  
Sarah Mares ◽  
Kym Jenkins ◽  
Susan Lutton ◽  
Louise Newman AM
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Mental Health Needs

Objective: This paper highlights the significant mental health vulnerabilities of people who have sought asylum in Australia and their additional adversities as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Conclusions: Australia’s policies in relation to asylum seekers result in multiple human rights violations and add significantly to mental health vulnerabilities. Despite a majority being identified as refugees, people spend years in personal and administrative limbo and are denied resettlement in Australia. Social isolation and other restrictions associated with Covid-19 and recent reductions in welfare and housing support compound their difficulties. The clinical challenges in working with people impacted by these circumstances and the role of psychiatrists and the RANZCP in advocacy are identified.

scholarly journals Three models of community mental health services In low-income countries

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Cohen ◽  
Julian Eaton ◽  
Birgit Radtke ◽  
Christina George ◽  
Bro Manuel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Community Mental Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Community Mental Health Services ◽  
Low Income Countries

The Challenges Facing Mental Health Programs for Post-Conflict and Refugee Communities

2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derrick Silove
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
Stress Reactions ◽  
Post Conflict

AbstractThe majority of refugees and communities exposed to warfare and oppression live in low-income countries with few resources or special skills. Yet, epidemiological studies have identified high levels of traumatic stress reactions in such populations. These stress reactions can be intensified by harsh policies aimed at deterring survivors from seeking refuge in technologically advanced societies. The scale of the problem of mass violence and displacement creates formidable challenges for mental health professionals in their efforts to develop practical frameworks for responding to the extensive needs of displaced persons. In this article, a model is proposed for low-income, post-conflict countries, based on a two-tiered formulation. At the eco-social level, mental health professionals can play a supportive, but not a lead, role in facilitating recovery of core adaptive systems that hasten natural recovery from stress for the majority of the population. Where small-scale, community mental health services are established, the emphasis should be on assisting persons and their families who are at greatest survival and adaptive risk. Training and promotion of local workers to assume leadership in such programs are essential. In technologically advanced societies in which refugees are in a minority, torture and trauma services can focus more specifically on traumatic stress reactions, acculturation, and resettlement. In a historical epoch in which displaced persons are facing particularly harsh treatment, there is a pressing need for consensus amongst mental health professionals in advocating for their needs.

Establishing the Effectiveness of Interventions Provided to First Responders to Prevent and/or Treat Mental Health Effects of Response to a Disaster: A Systematic Review

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
W. Tyler Winders ◽  
Nirma D. Bustamante ◽  
Stephanie Chow Garbern ◽  
Corey Bills ◽  
Amin Coker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Psychological Intervention ◽  
First Responders ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Mental Health Effects

ABSTRACT Objectives: This review systematically explores the current available evidence on the effectiveness of interventions provided to first responders to prevent and/or treat the mental health effects of responding to a disaster. Methods: A systematic review of Medline, Scopus, PsycINFO, and gray literature was conducted. Studies describing the effectiveness of interventions provided to first responders to prevent and/or treat the mental health effects of responding to a disaster were included. Quality was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria, and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist. Results: Manuscripts totaling 3869 met the initial search criteria; 25 studies met the criteria for in-depth analysis, including 22 quantitative and 3 qualitative studies; 6 were performed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); 18 studies evaluated a psychological intervention; of these, 13 found positive impact, 4 found no impact, and 1 demonstrated worsened symptoms after the intervention. Pre-event trainings decreased psychiatric symptoms in each of the 3 studies evaluating its effectiveness. Conclusions: This review demonstrates that there are likely effective interventions to both prevent and treat psychiatric symptoms in first responders in high-, medium-, and low-income countries.

scholarly journals Are parenting practices associated with the same child outcomes in sub-Saharan African countries as in high-income countries? A review and synthesis

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. e000912 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison M Devlin ◽  
Daniel Wight ◽  
Candida Fenton
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Parenting Practices ◽  
Child Outcomes ◽  
Conduct Disorders ◽  
High Income ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Parenting Interventions ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Ssa Countries

IntroductionThere is increasing interest in the transferability of parenting interventions from high-income countries (HICs) to low-income countries (LICs) in order to improve child development and health outcomes. This is based on the premise that associations between parenting practices and child outcomes are similar in both settings. Many parenting interventions in HICs are evidence-based, but less evidence exists on associations of parenting practices with child outcomes in LICs, in particular, sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. This review synthesises evidence on the association of parenting practices with child outcomes in SSA in order to compare findings with those from HICs.MethodsWe searched electronic databases—Web of Science, ASSIA, Embase, IBSS and PsycINFO—to identify studies from SSA that reported quantitative associations between parenting practices and child health or psychosocial outcomes (eg, sexual and reproductive health (SRH), mental health, conduct disorders). Due to inconsistent conceptual framing of parenting across studies, we used a modified version of the international WHO classification of parenting dimensions to guide synthesis of the results.ResultsForty-four studies met our inclusion criteria. They were conducted in 13 SSA countries and included cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, and were predominantly descriptive studies rather than intervention research. Synthesis of results showed that associations between patterns of parenting (‘positive’/‘harsh’) and child outcomes (including SRH, mental health and conduct disorders) in studies from SSA were broadly similar to those found in HICs.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that the impacts of parenting practices on child outcomes are similar across contrasting global regions and, therefore, parenting interventions from HICs might be successfully transferred to SSA, subject to appropriate adaptation. However, this review also highlights the paucity of evidence in this area and the urgent need for higher quality studies to confirm these findings to help develop effective parenting interventions in SSA.

scholarly journals Refugee mental health challenges in Africa

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-4
Author(s):  
Frank G. Njenga
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Internally Displaced Persons ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
United Nations High Commissioner ◽  
Refugee Mental Health ◽  
High Commissioner

Nearly all low-income countries are either just themselves emerging from conflict or neighbour a country that has just emerged from one. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (http://www.unhcr.org), of the 38 million uprooted people in 2003 worldwide, Africa played host to 13 million internally displaced persons and 3.5 million refugees.

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