scholarly journals Clinicians’ assumptions about Sami culture and experience providing mental health services to Indigenous patients in Norway

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inger Dagsvold ◽  
Snefrid Møllersen ◽  
Bodil H Blix
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Outpatient Clinics ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Cultural Considerations ◽  
Culture Influence

This qualitative study explores Sami and non-Sami clinicians’ assumptions about Sami culture and their experiences in providing mental health services to Sami patients. The aim is to better understand and improve the ways in which culture is incorporated into mental health services in practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 clinicians in mental health outpatient clinics in the northern Sami area in Troms and Finnmark County in Norway. The findings show that clinicians’ conceptualizations of culture influence how they take cultural considerations about their Sami patients into account. To better integrate culture into clinical practice, the cultures of both patient and clinician, as well as of mental health care itself, need to be assessed. Finally, the findings indicate a lack of professional team discussions about the role of Sami culture in clinical practice.

scholarly journals The Role of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Community-based Mental Health Services in Northern Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 24-37
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Ejembi Anyebe
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Community Mental Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Northern Nigeria ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Community Based

Despite the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in many health issues, their role in community mental health services in parts of northern Nigeria is unknown. This study explored the availability and role of NGOs in community-mental health care services, with a view to identifying the prospects and challenges. Using the convergent mixed methods approach, a self-constructed questionnaire and in-depth interviews were used to collect data from 205 conveniently and purposively selected study participants. Descriptive and thematic analyses were done and then triangulated to meet research objectives. There is a scarcity of mental health-related NGOs in the study areas; only one NGO engaged in the mental health activities was identified (13.4%). Surprisingly attempts by the only available NGO at providing the needed community-based mental health care were “frustrated” by certain government policy directions, which appear to paralyse activities and intentions of the only existing one. NGOs for mental health care are lacking. There is a dire need for NGO activities in mental health care. Efforts should be made to attract NGOs to the study areas in view of the increasing burden of mental health issues in the communities in the setting. Governments at all levels, community-based organisations and traditional institutions can be instrumental to this. NGOs within and outside the study areas focusing on community health in general and mental health care, in particular, may also interrogate this situation further for urgent intervention.

scholarly journals A review of a primary mental health service 10 years on

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 78-85
Author(s):  
Sarah Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Brief Intervention ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Intervention Service

The past 10 years have seen a shift in mental health care in Aotearoa New Zealand towards early intervention and treatment at a primary care level providing a range of levels of mental health interventions in a variety of settings. Previously specialist mental health care had been the responsibility of community mental health teams and secondary service inpatient care which provided care for people with severe mental illness (3% of the population). In this article, I look at the move towards the provision of primary mental health care. I describe and review the Mental Health Brief Intervention Service in South Canterbury, one of the earliest primary mental health services initiated by the South Canterbury District Health Board, which started in 2005. I present research fi from my Master’s thesis Mental Health Brief Intervention – does it work? An evaluation of practice, and discuss how the Mental Health Brief Intervention Service has made a positive change for general practitioners, the client, the interface with other services including secondary mental health services and service delivery in general. Forms of consumer feedback are discussed along with the changes in the service over the last 10 years. It is written by myself, a social worker, who played an integral part in initiating and establishing the service and continues to have an active role as a clinician within the Mental Health Brief Intervention Service. This article is written to provide social workers with an overview of the establishment of the Mental Health Brief Intervention Service and the impact on service delivery. The role of the social worker is discussed as is the role of other health professionals within the team. 

Valuing recovery-oriented practice at the interface between mental health services and communities: The role of organisational characteristics and environments

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-143
Author(s):  
Annette Bauer ◽  
Sara Evans-Lacko ◽  
Martin Knapp
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Shared Decision ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Participatory Approaches ◽  
Performance Orientation ◽  
Policy Priority

Background: Implementing recovery-oriented mental health services is a policy priority in many countries. In addition, some governments have prioritised new forms of organising, financing and governing the provision of mental health services with a stronger focus on co-delivery and involving communities. Most research in the recovery field has focused on interventions. There is limited knowledge about the role of organisational characteristics and environments in which people experience recovery. Aim: To understand the organisational characteristics of initiatives that implement recovery-oriented practice at the interface between mental health services and communities, as well as the mechanisms they employ to alter the conditions in which they operate. Method: Semi-structured interviews and a focus group workshop with managers of five initiatives in England that implemented recovery-oriented practice at the interface between mental health services and communities. Results: Our cross-sector initiatives shared a range of characteristics and employed mechanisms that created favourable conditions for recovery-oriented practice: strong social value and process (rather than performance) orientation; participatory approaches and shared decision-making; flat hierarchies; creating and seizing business opportunities; utilising networking and (social) marketing opportunities; risk-taking; valuing and supporting all members of their organisations; entrepreneurial and value-driven leadership. Conclusion: Recovery-oriented practice takes place in certain organisational environments that importantly influence an individual’s recovery. Our research highlights the need to consider organisational characteristics when evaluating recovery interventions as well as a broader shift of research towards understanding the environments in which people experience recovery as members of society, and how those can be altered.

Is There a Role for Child Psychiatry in Vietnam?

1997 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert S. McKelvey ◽  
David L. Sang ◽  
Hoang Cam Tu
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Child Psychiatry ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Child Psychiatric ◽  
The Future ◽  
Present Role

Objectives:(i) To describe the need for child psychiatric services in Vietnam; (ii) to review child psychiatry's present role within the Vietnamese health care system; (iii) to identify cultural, economic and manpower obstacles to the development of child mental health services; and (iv) to recommend a course for the future development of child psychiatry in Vietnam. Method:The existing literature relevant to the Vietnamese health and mental health care systems, traditional practices and beliefs regarding health and mental health, and the current status of psychiatry and child psychiatry in Vietnam was reviewed. In addition, discussions regarding these topics, and the future of child psychiatry in Vietnam, were held with leading Vietnamese health and mental health professionals. Results:The current role of child psychiatry in Vietnam is limited by the health care system's focus on infectious diseases and malnutrition, and by cultural, economic and manpower factors. Treatment is reserved for the most severely afflicted, especially patients with epilepsy and mental retardation. Specialised care is available in only a few urban centres. In rural areas treatment is provided by allied health personnel, paraprofessionals and community organisations. Conclusions:While the present role of child psychiatry in Vietnam is limited, it can still make important contributions. These include:research defining the need for child and adolescent mental health services, identifying priority child psychiatric disorders and assessing the effectiveness of priority disease treatment; and training to enhance the skills of primary health care providers in the treatment of priority disorders.

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