The Mental Health Care Act No 17 – South Africa. Trials and triumphs: 2002-2012

Abstract

The

Informal care for people with chronic psychotic symptoms: four case studies in a San community in South Africa

“…Although, South Africa's mental healthcare is moving away from institutionalised care, it lags behind in providing adequate care at a community level. In addition to psychiatric care, adequate care would include psychosocial and rehabilitation aspects of care (Botha et al 2008, Petersen & Lund 2011, Ramlall 2012. The under-resourced and overburdened primary healthcare system is unable to provide comprehensive community-based mental healthcare (Petersen & Lund 2011), which makes individuals with mental health problems largely dependent on the informal care provided by their families and the community as a whole.…”

Implementing the Mental Health Act 2001 in Ireland: views of Irish general practitioners

“…17 in 2004, seeking to dismantle apartheid practices that discriminated against the mentally ill and strengthen psychiatric services and protections of rights (e.g. through Mental Health Review Boards) (Ramlall, 2012). One of the chief problems reported with the new legislation, however, was 'the mountain of paper work involved' -a concern that is very similar to that of Irish GPs who report increased administrative workloads with the Mental Health Act 2001.…”

A decentralised model of psychiatric care: Profile, length of stay and outcome of mental healthcare users admitted to a district-level public hospital in the Western Cape

“…These findings suggest that a high proportion of patients were difficult to manage, further emphasising the need for service planning in terms of designated psychiatric beds and seclusion rooms. A review by Ramlall [19] on the longitudinal effect of the MHCA on mental healthcare service delivery accordingly states that one of the most common complaints was managing aggressive and behaviourally disturbed patients in a general hospital setting in the absence of seclusion rooms.…”