The use of mental health services in Umhlathuze District
The overarching aim of this study was to explore the use of mental health services in UMhlathuze district. A further aim was to explore the experiences and opinions of mental health users. Sixty mental health users participated in the study. The mental health needs of the predominantly poor, black population and people in rural areas are consequently left unmet. For mental health services to be improved and stay effective, constant evaluation is necessary. This will allow the use of mental health services as well as delivery to build upon its strengths as well as respond to short comings and new emerging needs indicated by research participants. This study investigated the use of mental health service in certain parts of UMhlathuze district. It records valuable aspects of the mental health services usage and identifies experiences and opinions for improvement. Findings in this study were guided by mental health service users from different service providers. The procedure for data collection involved direct conversations in which participants reflected on their experiences when mental health services are offered to them. A convenient sample was used in that the criterion of inclusion of participants in the sample was based on people consulting at health care facilities for mental health services, for example mental health users from psychology clinic, district hospital and NGOs. The opinions given were speaking back to the experiences thus participants came up with suggestions on how mental health services can be improved. Participants' experiences of the mental health service delivery were generally positive and negative on the other hand. The experiences of mental health users mainly appreciated for the essential services provided to the community and the fact that it also easy to access services because of providing psychological services at affordable rates.
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