Correlates of suicidal behaviour among adults in Guyana

Peltzer, Karl; Pengpid, Supa

doi:10.1080/14330237.2022.2075581

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The first comprehensive survey conducted in Guyana that explores women's health and life experiences confirms the adverse effects that violence is having on their mental and emotional wellbeing [26], which leads to suicide and suicidal ideations [27]). The research of Peltzer and Pengpid [28] also offers further evidence, pointing to the way that the greatest proportion of suicidal behavior is present amongst female victims of childhood and adult sexual abuse (p. 408).…”

Section: Gender Colonialism and Violence Against Womenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconciling a Broken Heritage: Developing Mental Health Social Work in Guyana

Halley,

Cowden

2023

IJERPH

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Guyana’s colonial past has left a trail of economic instability, racial polarization, and physical and mental trauma. Despite the progress made since Guyana’s independence in 1966, the remnants of this colonial past continue to shape present-day Guyana. As a result, violence and trauma continue to impact the mental health of the population. This is manifest in endemic problems of domestic violence and racialized social divisions which have created the conditions for rates of suicide which are amongst the highest in the world. The formal mental health provision which exists in Guyana is based primarily on an individualized and largely biomedical model of care. Despite valuable attempts to develop this provision, the difficulty of physically accessing this for some people and the stigma which surround this means that the capacity of this system to address the serious problems which exist is limited. It is also the case that in times of emotional and psychic distress, and in the context of Guyana being a very religious country, many people turn to traditional supernatural healers and remedies for support. In this paper, we discuss what is known as “Obeah”, noting that while this is widely practiced, it remains something of a taboo subject in Guyana. We consider the reasons why these practices and beliefs continue to be influential. However, what neither these biomedical or supernatural perceptions of mental health are able to address is the sociogenic nature of Guyana’s mental health issues, which we argue emerges out of the historic trauma of Guyana’s experience of colonialism and the violence which it engendered. We argue that profound forms of mental distress which exist in Guyana call for an integrative and holistic practice model that contextualizes these problems through a sociogenic lens. Social workers, working collaboratively with other health-related professions, can occupy a critical role in integrating these different conceptions through developing a rights-based model of mental health where the causes of mental ill-health are understood as socially determined.

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Section: Gender Colonialism and Violence Against Womenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconciling a Broken Heritage: Developing Mental Health Social Work in Guyana

Halley,

Cowden

2023

IJERPH

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“…A recent systematic review of suicidality in Guyana identified preliminary evidence for key risk groups; males, female youths, and people of Indo-Guyanese ethnicity. 6 Furthermore, pesticide poisoning has been identified as the most common method for suicide 6 and reported suicide attempts 7 in Guyana. Yet, other than epidemiological and descriptive analysis, there is limited literature about the context of suicides and suicide attempts in Guyana.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pesticides and passion: a qualitative psychological autopsy study of suicide in Guyana

Shaw,

Stuart,

Thomas

et al. 2023

The Lancet Regional Health - Americas

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A Falls Prevention Program for People After Stroke in Guyana: An International Collaboration

Pascal,

Lawrence,

Pires

et al. 2024

Physical Therapy

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Objective The objective was to describe the social, environmental, and cultural adaptations to an existing falls program and assess acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of the program in reducing fear, reducing falls, and improving function among individuals poststroke in Guyana. Methods A quasi-experimental pilot study with a pretest/ posttest in-group design was developed through a collaboration of researchers in Guyana and the US. Participants took part in the falls prevention program for 8 weeks. Outcome measures included a 10-meter walk test, Five Times Sit to Stand, and subjective questionnaires for falls incidence and balance confidence at the beginning and end. Results Twenty participants completed the study. One participant experienced medical complications and their data were excluded from analysis. Fifteen participants (78.9%) demonstrated improvements in comfortable and fast walking speed. Twelve participants completed the Five Times Sit to Stand Test. Eleven (91.67%) improved their time at posttest, with 9 (81.8%) demonstrating a clinically important improvement. Nineteen participants had sustained at least 1 fall prior to the study. Only 1 participant reported a fall during the program. Initially, the majority of participants (11/19) were very concerned about falling. At the end, only 1 was very concerned about falling, and the majority (15/19) were not concerned at all. Post-test surveys of participants indicated acceptability of the program. Conclusions This pilot program helped reduce fall risk and improve confidence, gait speed and community mobility of the study participants. Future research at other rehabilitation departments in Guyana would help increase generalizability of the program. Impact Statement The program can be used clinically by physical therapists in Guyana both in departments and as a home program. Shared knowledge and experience of researchers considering research evidence and the environmental, social, and economic conditions of people living in Guyana were important in developing an effective program.

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Correlates of suicidal behaviour among adults in Guyana

Cited by 4 publications

References 25 publications

Reconciling a Broken Heritage: Developing Mental Health Social Work in Guyana

Reconciling a Broken Heritage: Developing Mental Health Social Work in Guyana

Pesticides and passion: a qualitative psychological autopsy study of suicide in Guyana

A Falls Prevention Program for People After Stroke in Guyana: An International Collaboration

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