A Qualitative Assessment of Place and Mental Health: Perspectives of Young Women Ages 18–24 Living in the Urban Slums of Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

This paper examines the link between place and mental health using a qualitative assessment and focus group discussion with young women, ages 18 to 24 years of age, residing in three slums in Kampala, Uganda. The assessment, conducted in August of 2022, engaged 15 women who participated in Uganda Youth Development Drop-in center activities. The objective was to assess mental health and the link between place and mental health. Facilitated group discussions and photograph review yielded the following results. In terms of understanding their views of mental health and wellbeing, participants clearly focused on feelings. However, they also assessed resilience, the environment and a person’s choice as relating to their mental health. Participants also found the physical spaces related to sports, education, worship, workplaces and green space to be linked to happiness. In terms of the attributes that were linked to sadness, participants listed the physical locations where drugs are sold, clubs for dancing and partying and also sanitation issues in the community. Participants frequently reported on the social environment and reflected on harassment, discrimination, alcohol use and criminal behavior that did not reflect a specific physical space, but rather the embedded social interactions they may face or observe by living in close proximity to hotspots for criminal activity. Given the dire shortages of mental health services and care that are available in this setting, a better understanding of young women’s perceptions of place and mental health will be key for low-cost interventions and strategies to mitigate the contextual factors that may exacerbate mental illness.

Life Satisfaction Factors, Stress, and Depressive Symptoms among Young Women Living in Urban Kampala: Findings from the TOPOWA Project Pilot Studies

“…Future work should examine these family structures and responsibilities related to children (including how many children they support). In addition, housing insecurity and a lack of infrastructure in the slums may also play a significant role in stress related to living conditions and lifestyle [33].…”

Is climate change affecting mental health of urban populations?

“…Slums are informal settlements within cities that lack basic public services (water, sanitation, waste collection, storm drainage, street lighting, paved roads), have inadequate housing and difficult access to schools and hospitals, and have little open space for the community to gather or to relax. They are often overcrowded and characterized by violence and delinquency, and show a considerable burden of common mental disorders, including and depression [33,34]. This impact of lived environments on health is known as 'neighbourhood effects' and the effect of climate change will aggravate the harsh living conditions and the mental health of slums' dwellers.…”

Special Issue: Place, Space, and Mental Health

“…Four papers focus on the connections between mental health and everyday places and spaces. Swahn et al [ 6 ] presented views from an underrepresented population in academic research, i.e., young women residing in urban slums in Kampala, Uganda. The participants identified social and physical environmental features in their neighbourhoods that elicited both positive and negative emotions, and relatedly, reflected on their mental health.…”

“…Two articles are based on the quantitative assessment of cross-sectional surveys targeting specific groups: university students in Lubin, Poland [ 3 ] and staff of vaccination centres in Palermo, Italy [ 4 ]. Diverse qualitative methods were applied via in-depth interviews with adults who had encountered a natural disaster, i.e., a flash flood, in Ellicott City, USA [ 5 ] and via photo-elicited focus group discussions for young women living in slums of Kampala, Uganda [ 6 ]. Three experimental studies in this collection utilised state-of-the-art technological tools in either developing environmental stimuli (immersive virtual reality scenarios [ 9 ]), processing environmental stimuli (Google Street View images analysed with deep learning algorithms [ 7 ]), or measuring responses to environmental stimuli (brain activity by EEG [ 8 ]).…”

“…The importance of public open and recreational spaces for the promotion of mood and mental health was examined by Bernat et al [ 3 ], Reece et al [ 8 ], and Zhang et al [ 7 ]. Swahn et al [ 6 ] and Chan et al [ 5 ] assessed the role of communities in the wider environmental and social context. Scrima et al [ 4 ], instead, focused on workplaces, where people spend large amounts of their days, and Li et al [ 9 ] on transitional spaces between indoor and outdoor environments where visitors pass several times a day but only for brief amounts of time.…”