Lived Experiences of Young People who Live with Mental Healthcare Users in Limpopo, South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mamakota Maggie Molepo ◽  
Faniswa Honest Mfidi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Young People ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Support Systems ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Burden Sharing

Mental illness is more than just the diagnosis to an individual – it also has an impact on the social functioning of the family at large. When a parent or relative has a mental illness, all other family members are affected, even the children. The purpose of the study was to provide insight into the lived experiences of young people who live with mental healthcare users and the way in which their daily coping can be maximised. A qualitative, descriptive, phenomenological research was undertaken to explore and describe the lived experiences of young people who live with mental healthcare users in the Limpopo province, South Africa. Audiotaped, unstructured in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 young people who grew up and lived with a family member who is a mental healthcare user in their homes, until data saturation was reached. A content analysis was used to derive themes from the collected qualitative data. Four major themes emerged as features reflective of the young people’s daily living with mental healthcare user, namely psychological effects, added responsibilities, effects on school performances, and support systems. This study recommends that support networks for young people be established through multidisciplinary team involvement and collaboration and the provision of burden-sharing or a relief system during times of need. With the availability of healthy coping mechanisms and support systems, the daily living situations and coping of young people could be maximised, thereby improving their quality of life while living with their family members with mental illness.

scholarly journals Student paramedic stigma towards people with mental illness: an international study

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul M Simpson ◽  
Kingsley Agho ◽  
Benjamin Van Nugteren ◽  
Tuija Rasku ◽  
Sean Thompson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
Instrument Measuring

Objective Stigma towards mental illness has been described in many health professions at the undergraduate level, but not in the discipline of paramedicine. The objective of this research was to describe levels of stigma towards people with mental illness as self-reported by undergraduate paramedicine students in Australia, Finland, New Zealand and South Africa. Design Using a cross-sectional design, an online survey was administered consisting of a validated instrument measuring self-reported stigma levels. Setting Four undergraduate paramedicine university programs in Australia, New Zealand, Finland and South Africa. Method The Opening Minds Scale for Health Providers (OMS-HC) is a validated, 20-item instrument measuring self-reported stigma. The 20 OMS-HC items were summed and generalised linear models with log link and Poisson family were used to examine associated factors. Results The overall level of self-reported stigma across students from all countries was 53, on a scale ranging from 20 (‘least stigmatised’) to 100 (‘most stigmatised’). Compared with the Australian cohort, total stigma scores increased significantly by 8% in New Zealand (p=0.01), 15% (p<0.001), and 18% in South Africa (p=0.002). Subscale analysis revealed high scores for social distance as a construct of stigma more broadly. Conclusion The findings provide an important baseline that can be used by paramedicine programs to inform development of mental healthcare curricula seeking to reduce stigma during the formative undergraduate years of professional development. The findings can be applied in a teaching and learning setting as source material to stimulate discussion and promote student self-reflection in a range of teaching activities.

Living nan lonbraj la: Haitian Immigrant Young People Writing Their Selves Into the World

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (13) ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Eurydice Bouchereau Bauer ◽  
Lenny SÁnchez
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Raising Children ◽  
School Settings ◽  
Cultural Flexibility ◽  
Interview Methodology ◽  
The U.S

Background Immigrant young people face many challenges in reconciling sociocultural differences that exist in their day-to-day experiences (e.g., school, home, peers), which raises important questions for how school settings can support these students’ navigation of these experiences. Much is yet to be learned about the manifestation processes for these young people. This is especially true for Haitian immigrant young people as they encounter racio-cultural dynamics in the U.S. (e.g., through racism and classism) as they work to construct their Haitianness and straddle the different cultural domains they live out. Context This article focuses on understanding the lived experiences of three Haitian immigrant young people. The young people included two siblings (ages 22 and 16) and a third child (age 8). Interview methodology was used in order to capture stories from the viewpoint of the young people. The mothers of these young people were also interviewed in order to corroborate the young peoples’ experiences and understand greater contexts of their families. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences (e.g., tensions, cultural flexibility) of the three focal young people of how they fashioned various identifications of Haitianness. Two siblings were selected in order to analyze how their experiences of growing up in the same family might yield (dis)similar experiences, and the third child, who was the youngest interviewee, was selected to understand how various identity decision-makings were beginning to be formulated at a younger age. The student interviews specifically focused on background information (i.e., age, school attended), stories told to them by family members or those outside the home about Haiti, how they self-identify and why, perceptions of them in school, what people knew about them in school and what they didn't know about them and why, literacy practices at home and at school, and their lived experiences with friends and family members. In addition, the parent interviews helped us to delve into the parents’ expectations and their successes and difficulties in raising children with a Haitian background in the U.S. Findings The findings unveiled very different experiences for each of the three focal young people that showed tensive and unproblematic decisions they made as they navigated what it meant to be a Haitian immigrant. While some of the individuals’ choices preserved more Haitian heritage than others, their decisions revealed how they each occupied plural consciousnesses as they postured varying racial and linguistic selves at school and home. Examples of student choices included acclimating to dominant (“white”) views of what it meant to excel in school settings, setting one's self academically apart from peers in order to be beyond reproach, creating private networks of friends who provided cultural validation, viewing one's self as race-less, ascribing to Haitian work values, tying particular language abilities to cultural identities, and masking ethnic heritage at school.

Life situations and lived experiences of young people who are not in education, employment, or training in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Matli ◽  
Mpho Ngoepe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Young People ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Structuration Theory ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Gauteng Province ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Employment Education ◽  
Taking Action

PurposeIn recent years, South Africa has continued to experience a high rate of young people who are not in employment, education, or training (NEET). The emergence of the concept ‘NEET’ affords researchers an opportunity to more closely examine the life situations and experiences of this population sub-group. The purpose of this paper is thus to further explore the life situations and lived experiences of people in South Africa who are NEET. Structuration theory is adopted to better understand how social structures play a role in the lives of people who are NEET.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were carried out with 24 NEET people over a period of two months in South Africa. This paper presents a section of the findings from a broader study that used self-administered interviews to collect data in three metropolitan municipalities of Gauteng Province, the economic heartland of South Africa.FindingsThe findings indicate that poverty remains an obstacle for many young people in furthering their studies or developing their ideas into businesses. Also evident is that there are NEETs who are taking action to disconnect from the NEET sub-group by means of seeking work, funding, or volunteering for initiatives, among other activities. Lack of financial support affects most NEETs perpetuating their vulnerability and their efforts to detach themselves from their NEET status. It is evident that most NEETs who took part in this study are still seeking opportunities to become economically active, regardless of their current financial situations.Originality/valueThere remains a lack of adequate exploration and understanding of the experiences and life situations of people who are NEET. The relevance of this study is in its contribution towards extending the applicability of structuration theory to understanding the life situations of people who are NEET in South Africa. This study contributes to the literature by providing the experiences and life situations of people who are NEET in a country with already high levels of inequalities. It is hoped that this study may provide the basis for developing more specific policy solutions able to address the NEET issues in South Africa and in society more generally.

scholarly journals Determining the caregivers’ burden in caregivers of patients with mental illness

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Salma Parveen Siddiqui ◽  
Javeria Khalid
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Activities Of Daily Living ◽  
Functional Status ◽  
Serious Mental Illness ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Physical Capacity ◽  
Care Recipient ◽  
Brief Cope

Objective: To examine the factors associated with caregivers’ burden in individuals providing care to family members suffering from serious mental illness. Methods: This Cross Sectional Study was carried out at Armed Forces Institute of Mental Health, Rawalpindi, from May 2015 to December 2015. A purposive sample of 120 family caregivers (60 males and 60 females, age range= 18-65) who were taking care of patients with serious mental illness (i.e. Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder & Schizophrenia) for at least one year were recruited from the hospital and assessed through Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) and Brief COPE inventory. The decline in functional status, and diminished physical capacity compromising the independent living of the care recipient was assessed through Katz Index of Independence in Activities of daily living (ADL) and Lawton Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Results: The results suggest that the longer the duration of illness (F=25.71, p < 0.01), with increased impairments of care-recipients, (decline in functional status, F=21.33, p < 0.001; diminished physical capacity F =32.41, p < 0.001) the more the burden experienced by the caregivers. Moreover, caregivers who were married (t=-2.98, p < 0.01), less educated (t =5.48, p < 0.01), lived in rural area (t = -7.99, p < 0.01), had lower monthly income (t = -4.95, p < 0.01) provide longer hours of caregiving (F=19.12, p < 0.001) and used avoidant coping behavior (F= 56.37, p < 0.001) reported significantly higher caregiver burden than caregivers who were unmarried, more educated, lived in urban area and had better income. Conclusion: The results of study demonstrate that caring for family members with serious mental illness impacts the caregivers’ wellbeing. It, therefore, highlights the need for support and counseling services for the caregivers to reduce the burden of caring. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.5.720 How to cite this:Siddiqui S, Khalid J. Determining the caregivers’ burden in caregivers of patients with mental illness. Pak J Med Sci. 2019;35(5):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.5.720 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Experiences of Persons Living with Severe and Persistent Mental Illness

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalena Van Rooyen ◽  
Kegan Topper ◽  
Nontembeko Grycelda Shasha ◽  
Juanita Strümpher
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Primary Healthcare ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Healthcare Facilities ◽  
Persistent Mental Illness

The mental healthcare needs of individuals suffering from mental illness, especially those with severe and persistent mental illness, are neglected and often misunderstood in South African rural communities. The purpose of the study was to explore and describe experiences of persons living with severe and persistent mental illness and those of their families in respect of mental health services provided by primary healthcare facilities in rural Eastern Cape, South Africa. A qualitative, descriptive, exploratory research design was utilised. Convenience sampling was used to select primary healthcare facilities in the rural Emalahleni sub-district of the Chris Hani Health District in the Eastern Cape. Purposive sampling was used to recruit persons living with severe and persistent mental illness (n = 18) and their family members (n = 11). A total of 29 in-depth, unstructured individual interviews were conducted using an audio recorder. Tesch’s thematic analysis was used to identify themes from the data. Two central themes emerged from the data, namely the challenges in accessing primary healthcare services, and the inadequate provision of mental healthcare. Primary healthcare in rural South Africa needs to be better prioritised by national government to deal with mental healthcare. Improvements in infrastructural and staff capacity are needed to improve access and availability of mental healthcare services in rural communities. Nursing education programmes should better integrate mental healthcare into curricula, especially rural mental healthcare. Cost-effective, evidence-based, culturally-sensitive mental health innovations focusing on the mental health needs throughout the person’s life course should be implemented.

YOUTH COUNCILLORS' PERCEPTIONS OF PARTICIPATION AT A MUNICIPAL LEVEL: THE CASE OF A LIMPOPO DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-92
Author(s):  
Edith Dinong Phaswana
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Young People ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Youth Participation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Operational Issues ◽  
Municipal Level

Over the past three decades youth participation as a theoretical, practical and policy approach has been increasing globally. In 1996, South Africa established various youth institutions at national, provincial and local level. This has translated in many adult organisations having to make a shift in their thinking and operations. This included municipalities at local level. In this paper, I focus on one district municipality in the Limpopo province to examine youth participation practices. I use Driskell and Kudva’s framework of spaces of participation for adult-run organisations seeking to promote youth participation to examine the appropriateness of municipality as a space for participation practice. My research shows that adult attitudes towards young people are central in undermining other participatory spaces created. However, bounded operational issues can be countered by the structural opportunities existing there.

scholarly journals The Lived Experiences of Family Members of a Sibling with Borderline Personality Disorder in South Africa: A Qualitative Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nompumelelo Ntshingila ◽  
Wendy Caluza ◽  
Marie Poggenpoel ◽  
Chris PH Myburgh
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Subjective Burden ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background: Family members of people living with borderline personality disorder (BPD) experience a considerable objective and subjective burden. This article aims to report on a study that explored family members’ lived experiences of having a sibling with BPD in South Africa.Method: This qualitative study used in-depth phenomenological individual interviews, supported by participant observations and field notes for data collection. Data were analysed using Tesch’s thematic coding.Results: Seven participants were interviewed, and three themes emerged from the collected data. The study revealed that participants experienced multiple challenges in understanding, gaining control, and struggling to cope with their own lives. Participants also experienced the impact of a lack of communication and education. Lastly, the study revealed that the participants used individual coping mechanisms to cope with having a sibling with BPD.Conclusions: This research illuminated the challenges experienced by family members of a sibling with BPD. These findings provide a basis for recommendations for mental health nurses to promote the mental health of affected family members.

scholarly journals The Lived Experiences of Migrant Youths at Musina Town in the Limpopo Province of South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 1631-1637
Author(s):  
Rapholo Selelo Frank
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Population Movements ◽  
Vast Number ◽  
Immigration Laws

This study sought to explore and describe the lived experiences of migrant youths in South Africa by using Musina as a case study. Several studies reveal that Southern Africa is faced with an increased number of international population movements. Upon their arrival in the host countries, immigrants encounter a vast number of challenges. The new economic theory of migration was used to pursue the aim of this study. This study was qualitative wherein case study and phenomenological designs were triangulated to purposively select 18 migrant youths in Musina. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and was analysed thematically with the assistance of Nvivo software. Findings reveal that most migrant youths due to problems around documentation are being hated by local citizens and exploited by employers that they end up performing impractical jobs without any benefits and job security. Stigmatisation was also found to be a challenge that migrant youths deal with in South Africa. There should be stringent security at the Beit-Bridge border post to mitigate illegal cross-bordering to South Africa. Integrative programmes should be developed to accommodate legal immigrants into the welfare of South Africa. Immigration laws should have a clause on the monitoring of any job done by immigrants in the host countries. Further research is also recommended in other provinces of South Africa and with significant others such as local citizens and government officials.

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