Child and adolescent mental health in Africa: A qualitative analysis of the perspectives of emerging mental health clinicians and researchers using an online platform

Davids, Eugene Lee; Tucker, Leigh Adams; Wambua, Grace Nduku; Fewster, Deborah Leigh; Schlebusch, Liezl; Karrim, Saira B.S.; Attia, M. Ben; Nyoni, Joachim; Bayouh, Fikirte Girma; Kuteesa, Hillary; Brahim, Takoua; Hoogenhout, Michelle; Kahloul, Rahma Ben Moussa; Jearey-Graham, Nicola; Gobie, Habte Belete; Nalugya, Joyce

doi:10.2989/17280583.2019.1659145

“…Unfortunately, as anticipated, very limited CAMHSS data were available in the public domain, and we had to depend on the personal communications of key stakeholders in the health and education system in the State. However, this nding is very much in keeping with the literature which identi es CAMH as a largely neglected area within the mental health eld [9,30,49]. Below we will summarise key ndings from each of the WHO-AIMS building blocks and highlight gaps in knowledge about CAMH services and systems in Khartoum State.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

“…Despite these facts, CAMH services on the African continent are still underdeveloped, and CAMH research is highly lacking [2,[5][6][7][8]. In a study conducted by Davis and colleagues about CAMH in Africa, the authors identi ed signi cant gaps in CAMH-related policies, community participation, CAMH institutions, and interpersonal communication in relation to CAMH [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Khartoum State, Sudan: A desktop Situational Analysis

Abdalhai,

Mokitimi,

Vries

2023

Preprint

0

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Background Sudan is a Northeast African country, with 61.7% of its population under 24 years. With a large youth population and significant cultural and linguistic diversity, Sudan, like most low-income countries, has contributed minimal data to global child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) research. This study aimed to perform the first ever situational analysis of CAMH services and systems in Khartoum State, Sudan. Methods The study focused on Khartoum state and covered the calendar years 2019 and 2020. Using the World Health Organization Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS) version 2.2 adapted for CAMH, the study focused on the publically available data sources. Findings were described and presented in tables and figures using the WHO-AIMS template. Results The situational analysis found no CAMH-specific policies, no separate budget for CAMH, and no supervising body for CAMH services in Khartoum. Three tertiary mental health hospitals provided CAMH services, all combined with adult mental health services. Essential medicines were available in all facilities, except methylphenidate available only in 3 central pharmacies. There was no free access to essential psychotropic drugs for children and adolescents except in emergency settings. Data about training to primary healthcare providers and the process of referral to specialized services were limited. A school mental health programme existed which provided early identification and management of CAMH problems in schools. The workforce was small and variable across all levels of care. No formal public health awareness campaigns and little evidence of formal intersectoral collaboration on CAMH were identified. A health information system existed, but no CAMH-specific items were reported. Among a handful of publications on CAMH, no national studies on CAMH were identified. Conclusions This situational analysis represented the first systematic collation of data and information about CAMH in Sudan. Findings highlighted some areas of strength, but also many gaps in CAMH services and systems. We acknowledge the need to complement the desktop analysis with in-depth data collection with stakeholders across multiple levels, but hope that this will serve as a first step towards strengthening CAMH services in Sudan and other low-income countries.

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“…The first is to use the traditional API interface. The second is to use the Mapper interface, which provides the possibility for interface-oriented programming [16]. The framework has many advantages, such as reducing the amount of code, very convenient to use, quick to use, sql and code are separated, and also supports writing dynamic sql.…”

Section: Overall Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

Realization of Mental Health Counseling Service Platform Using Wireless Communication Network and Genetic Algorithm

Chen

¹

,

Duan

²

,

Chen

³

2022

Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing

0

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Healthy life has always been the goal pursued by human beings. Physical health is not just about physical health but also mental health. Although mental health has become more and more important in people’s minds, there are still a large number of people who do not understand psychological counseling or do not enjoy psychological counseling. Based on this, this paper was aimed at designing a mental health counseling service platform, so that most people can solve their own psychological problems through the modern high-speed developed network. For the design of the platform, this paper focuses on the design of three functions: instant messaging, psychological testing, and expert consultation. The optimization of the platform uses the genetic algorithm to optimize the wireless communication technology, so that the communication efficiency of the platform is higher and the energy consumption is less. The experimental results of this paper show that compared with the other three algorithms, the algorithm in this paper is in the leading position, and the overall power consumption is reduced by 10%. And after testing, the platform of this paper can operate effectively and can provide a solution platform for mental health counseling users.

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“…Despite these facts, CAMH services on the African continent are still underdeveloped, and CAMH research is highly lacking [ 2 , 5 – 8 ]. In a study conducted by Davis and colleagues about CAMH in Africa, the authors identified significant gaps in CAMH-related policies, community participation, CAMH institutions, and interpersonal communication in relation to CAMH [ 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child and adolescent mental health services in Khartoum State, Sudan: a desktop situational analysis

Abdalhai,

Mokitimi,

de Vries

2024

Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health

0

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Background Sudan is a Northeast African country, with 61.7% of its population under 24 years. With a large youth population and significant cultural and linguistic diversity, Sudan, like most low-income countries, has contributed minimal data to global child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) research. This study aimed to perform the first ever situational analysis of CAMH services and systems in Khartoum State, Sudan. Methods The study focused on Khartoum state and covered the calendar years 2019 and 2020. Using the World Health Organization Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS) version 2.2 adapted for CAMH, the study focused on the publically available data sources. Findings were described and presented in tables and figures using the WHO-AIMS template. Results The situational analysis found no CAMH-specific policies, no separate budget for CAMH, and no supervising body for CAMH services in Khartoum. Three tertiary mental health hospitals provided CAMH services, all combined with adult mental health services. Essential medicines were available in all facilities, except methylphenidate available only in 3 central pharmacies. There was no free access to essential psychotropic drugs for children and adolescents except in emergency settings. Data about training to primary healthcare providers and the process of referral to specialized services were limited. A school mental health programme existed which provided early identification and management of CAMH problems in schools. The workforce was small and variable across all levels of care. No formal public health awareness campaigns and little evidence of formal intersectoral collaboration on CAMH were identified. A health information system existed, but no CAMH-specific items were reported. Among a handful of publications on CAMH, no national studies on CAMH were identified. Conclusions This situational analysis represented the first systematic collation of data and information about CAMH in Sudan. Findings highlighted some areas of strength, but also many gaps in CAMH services and systems. We acknowledge the need to complement the desktop analysis with in-depth data collection with stakeholders across multiple levels, but hope that this will serve as a first step towards strengthening CAMH services in Sudan and other low-income countries.

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Child and adolescent mental health in Africa: A qualitative analysis of the perspectives of emerging mental health clinicians and researchers using an online platform

Cited by 8 publications

References 30 publications

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Khartoum State, Sudan: A desktop Situational Analysis

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Khartoum State, Sudan: A desktop Situational Analysis

Realization of Mental Health Counseling Service Platform Using Wireless Communication Network and Genetic Algorithm

Child and adolescent mental health services in Khartoum State, Sudan: a desktop situational analysis

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