YouBelong Home: A Ugandan Community Mental Health Intervention

In Uganda, low resources for mental health provision combine with disadvantage and inadequate supports for family and community-based care. Catalysed by the need to reduce overcrowded psychiatric hospital wards and frequent readmissions at Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital (BNRMH) in Kampala, the nongovernment organisation YouBelong Uganda (YBU) developed the YouBelong Home (YBH) intervention. YBH is a theoretically eclectic pre and post hospital discharge intervention. This paper reports on qualitative findings of the project Curtailing Hospital Readmissions for Patients with Severe Mental Illness in Africa (CHaRISMA), which explored how to refine the YBH intervention. The project was funded by a UK Joint Global Health Trials (JGHT) Development Grant. Data was collected through structured interviews with service users and caregivers, reflective practice by the YBH implementing team and a stakeholder focus group. A summary of refinements to the YBH intervention follows the TIDieR format (Template for Intervention Description and Replication).

Stereotypes on Nodding syndrome: responses of health workers in the affected region of northern Uganda

BACKGROUND

Nodding Syndrome is a debilitating disorder of yet unknown etiology that has affected children and adolescents aged 3 - 18 years in parts of sub Saharan African countries including Uganda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Liberia.

OBJECTIVE

To identify stereotypes and negative attitudes held by primary care health workers about nodding syndrome.

METHOD

Of one hundred health workers invited by the Uganda Ministry of Health for training on nodding syndrome from the three most affected districts of Pader, Lamwo and Kitgum forty were interviewed using a predesigned tool. Content and thematic analysis was applied.

RESULTS

There were 22 females. The median age was 33 years (range 23-54 years). The participants included Psychiatric Clinical Officers, Medical Clinical Officers, Laboratory Technicians, Midwives, Registered and Enrolled Nurses. Overall, four broad categories of negative stereotypes were identified; Nodding syndrome is 1) an incurable disease, 2) is associated with evil spirits and curses, 3) is disabling, making the patient a burden to society and 4) is a fatal illness.

CONCLUSION

Primary health care workers who lead the care of patients with nodding syndrome have several negative stereotypes that may potentially impact negatively on the quality of care they provide.

Effect of HIV infection on time to recovery from an acute manic episode

INTRODUCTION

Understanding factors affecting the time to recovery from acute mania is critical in the management of manic syndromes. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of HIV infection on time to recovery from acute mania.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective study in which medical charts of individuals who were treated for acute mania were reviewed. Survival analysis with Cox regression models were used to compare time to recovery from an acute manic episode between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive individuals and HIV-negative individuals.

RESULTS

Median survival time was one week for HIV-positive individuals and more than four weeks for HIV-negative individuals (χ(2) = 18.4, P value = 0.000). HIV infection was the only marginally significant independent predictor of survival probability on the acute admission ward (hazards ratio 2.87, P = 0.06).

CONCLUSION

Acute mania in HIV-infected persons responds faster to psychotropic drugs compared with that in HIV-negative persons.