Open AccessTraditional mental health practitioners in Kwara State, Nigeria
Author(s) -
Moruf L. Adelekan,
A B Makanjuola,
R. J. E. Ndom
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
east african medical journal
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.102
H-Index - 40
ISSN - 0012-835X
DOI - 10.4314/eamj.v78i4.9061
Subject(s) - mental illness , mental health , medicine , intervention (counseling) , psychiatry , sadness , psychological intervention , anger
To assess the knowledge, practice and attitude of traditional mental health practitioners (TMHPs) in four Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Kwara State, Nigeria, on mental health care; to organise training sessions aimed at improving their knowledge base, practice and; to evaluate such training after allowing for a period of practice. STUDY DESIGN/INTERVENTION: Pre-training evaluation phase: TMHPs were assessed in the area of knowledge, attitude and practice of mental health, with the use of a questionnaire. They were then trained in the concepts of normality and abnormality, types of mental illness, treatment of mental illness including follow up, after-care, relapse prevention, other primary preventive measures, and some introductory talks on some sub-specialties of psychiatry, for example, child psychiatry, old age psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, drug and alcohol abuse and; after a free-practice period of two months, the TMHPs were again reassessed for the impact of the training.