ABSTRACT
The study was conducted to find out the socio-cultural factors affecting the delivery of mental health services in Neuropsychiatric Hospital; Port Harcourt. Mental health care providers encounter in everyday practice a diversity in socio-cultural beliefs and practices of their consumers which quite often serve as barriers to their effective and efficient service delivery. 50 mental health care roviders participated in the study; five hypotheses were tested using chi-square measure at the significance level of 0.05. The results showed that all the variables were significant indicating that socio-cultural factors affect the service delivery of mental health care providers. Hence; it is hereby recommended that clinicians must be well vast in the cultural diversities; to be culturally responsive to the needs of their consumers and be aware of their own cultures in order to provide culturally relevant services to their clients/patients and their relations
Subject(s)
Cultural Characteristics , Mental Health Services , Neuropsychiatry , Nigeria , Social ProblemsABSTRACT
This study; a retrospective one that was conducted to assess the prevalence of schizophrenia among patients admitted into Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital; Rumuigbo; Port-Harcourt; Rivers State; Nigeria between January 2005 and December 2009. The method used to collect the required data was assessing all the case files of the patients at the Medical Records Department with the assistance of the Chief Medical Records Officer-in-charge. The prevalence was investigated in relation to gender; age range; level of education; occupation and marital status. The study revealed that on the average 58.19 of the patients admitted between the study period were Schizophrenic patients. It is therefore recommended that urgent national survey be conducted to determine the prevalence of all psychiatric disorders as the results will guide both the health policy makers and providers in effective and efficient planning and administration of health of the country either in the prevention; early detection and management of mental disorders in Nigeria as high prevalence is a grave threat to the dividend of our democracy