Risk factors and strategies for relapse prevention among individuals living with serious mental illness in South Africa: Qualitative inquiry from patients' and caregivers' perspectives.

Autor: Joyce Protas Mlay, Thirusha Naidu, Suvira Ramlall, Sbusisiwe Sandra Mhlungu, Makhosazane Zondi, Richard Lessells, Jennifer I Manuel, Andrew Tomita
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 19, Iss 8, p e0309238 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309238
Popis: IntroductionRelapse among individuals with serious mental illnesses in resource-limited contexts, including South Africa, is a significant concern. To date, the risks for relapse among this population is well documented, but little is known about prevention strategies to reduce its occurrence in these resource-limited settings. Therefore, this qualitative study explores the risk factors and strategies for relapse prevention from the patients' and caregivers' perspectives.MethodsWe conducted audio-recorded face-to-face in-depth interviews to capture the lived experience of relapse of inpatient study participants with serious mental illness (N = 24) at a public specialized psychiatry hospital in South Africa and their caregivers (N = 6). We conducted an inductive thematic analysis with two pre-specified themes (risk factors for relapse and strategies for prevention), with the codes devised from the data.ResultsSix sub-themes were identified from the analysis within the two pre-specified themes(Risk factors and strategies for relapse prevention): personal-related, family-related, and health system-related risk factors and strategies for preventing relapse, respectively. To highlight some essential findings, the importance of motivation for drug adherence, family involvement, and availability of anti-psychotic drugs in public health care were noted. More importantly, this study identified important cultural complexities where traditional healers play a significant role in some cultural understanding and treatment of mental illness, affecting medication adherence.ConclusionThis study calls for people-centered mental health care delivery in a public health system that listens to the voice of concern, including cultural challenges, and implements meaningful support that matters most to the patient and their family/caregivers.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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