Academic Journal
Knowledge, confidence, and practices of clinical associates in the management of mental illness
| Title: | Knowledge, confidence, and practices of clinical associates in the management of mental illness |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Saiendhra V. Moodley, Jacqueline Wolvaardt, Christoffel Grobler |
| Source: | South African Journal of Psychiatry, Vol 29, Iss 0, Pp e1-e10 (2023) |
| Publisher Information: | AOSIS, 2023. |
| Publication Year: | 2023 |
| Collection: | LCC:Psychiatry |
| Subject Terms: | clinical associates, knowledge, confidence, practices, south africa, mental health mental illness, Psychiatry, RC435-571 |
| More Details: | Background: Additional human resources are needed to provide mental health services in underserved areas in South Africa (SA). Clinical associates, the mid-level medical worker cadre in SA, could potentially be used to deliver these services. Aim: The study explored the self-reported knowledge, confidence, and current practices of clinical associates related to mental health assessment and management. Setting: South Africa. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. The link to the electronic questionnaire was distributed to clinical associates via databases and social media. Data were analysed with Stata v17. Results: Of the 209 participants, 205 (98.1%) indicated they had training on management of patients with mental illness during their undergraduate degree and 192 (91.9%) had a mental health rotation. Few (10.7%) had any additional mental health training. Most participants rated their knowledge of priority mental disorders as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. Only 43.2% of the participants felt quite or very confident to perform a mental health examination. Participants who felt quite or very confident to manage patients presenting with suicide risk, aggression, and confusion were 44.9%, 46.9% and 53.1%, respectively. Factors associated with a confidence score of 75% and higher were male gendered, working in Gauteng or Northern Cape provinces, and in a rural area. The majority of participants were already involved in mental health assessment and management in their current work. Conclusion: Clinical associates have a contribution to make in mental health service provision, but this may need to be supplemented by additional practical training. Contribution: Potential gaps in training have been identified. |
| Document Type: | article |
| File Description: | electronic resource |
| Language: | English |
| ISSN: | 1608-9685 2078-6786 |
| Relation: | https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/2074; https://doaj.org/toc/1608-9685; https://doaj.org/toc/2078-6786 |
| DOI: | 10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v29i0.2074 |
| Access URL: | https://doaj.org/article/ff49b77eb23f4078b24dcbf970a7747d |
| Accession Number: | edsdoj.ff49b77eb23f4078b24dcbf970a7747d |
| Database: | Directory of Open Access Journals |
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| ISSN: | 16089685 20786786 |
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| DOI: | 10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v29i0.2074 |
| Published in: | South African Journal of Psychiatry |
| Language: | English |