Bonginkosi Chiliza
Biographic Data
| ID | 158891 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Bonginkosi Chiliza |
| GIVEN NAMES | Bonginkosi |
| FAMILY NAME | Chiliza |
| SIGNATURE | CHILIZA B |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of KwaZulu-Natal |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5417-5920 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 17 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 21 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Prevalence of Mental Disorders and Suicidality Among Children and Adolescents Living with HIV in South Africa
Despite progress in HIV prevention and treatment, global data suggests that youth living with HIV remain at risk of mental disorders and suicidality. However, reliable epidemiological data from South Africa (SA) are limited. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to synthesize evidence on the prevalence of mental disorders and suicidality among SA children and adolescents (≤ 19 years) living with HIV. Following PRISMA guidelines, we s…
Poverty alleviation for people with severe mental health conditions in South Africa
People with severe mental health conditions (SMHC) and caregivers in South Africa often experience poverty. The PRIZE trial found that recovery groups were acceptable, feasible and potentially effective in reducing relapse. Addressing economic needs was identified as a means to increase impact. This study aimed to understand the acceptability of poverty alleviation interventions as an adjunct to psychosocial interventions.We conducted two focus g…
Feasibility and acceptability of unconditional cash transfers intervention among unemployed young adults with first-episode psychosis in South Africa
There is a lack of high-quality evidence on cash transfers as an intervention to support young people with first-episode psychosis (FEP) in Africa. To address this gap, we conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a 3-month follow-up period to assess the feasibility and acceptability of an unconditional cash transfer (UCT) intervention among FEP. We enrolled 60 unemployed young adults (18–29 years) with FEP from three public hospit…
Reimagining language access in mental healthcare through cultural integration in KwaZulu-Natal
The journal is published for the purpose of advancing scholarship in disability studies and rehabilitation sciences in a uniquely African context. Widely read by scholars, professionals and students, it encourages scholarly exchange between all disciplines and academics from low, middle and high-income countries to work towards the improvement of human development and its practices across the continent
Early intervention in psychosis programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America; challenges and recommendations
Background While early intervention in psychosis (EIP) programs have been increasingly implemented across the globe, many initiatives from Africa, Asia and Latin America are not widely known. The aims of the current review are (a) to describe population-based and small-scale, single-site EIP programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America, (b) to examine the variability between programs located in low-and-middle income (LMIC) and high-income countries…
Cultural adaptation of a brief psychological intervention for PTSD in severe mental illness
High rates of trauma exposure among patients with severe mental illness (SMI) in Botswana highlight the need for appropriate interventions. Culturally adapted interventions have been reported to be more acceptable, effective and feasible. This study aimed to culturally adapt the Brief Relaxation, Education and Trauma Healing (BREATHE), a brief psychological intervention to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among people with SMI in Botsw…
No one will come and help me make my life
Global mental health
T32 MH116140 - NIMH NIH HHS
Mental Health, Culture and Resilience—Approaching the Covid-19 Pandemic From a South African Perspective
It is understandable that the challenges of living through a severe contagious outbreak, like the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), cannot be tolerated for long and that some individuals may require emotional, psychological, and spiritual support in order to strengthen their resilience to navigate this difficult period. As clinicians and researchers in the field of mental health, we need to appreciate the roles that culture, spirituality, and …
When roles within interpreter-mediated psychiatric consultations speak louder than words
In South Africa, clinicians working in public psychiatric hospitals are mainly fluent in English and Afrikaans, while the majority of patients are not proficient in these languages. Due to a lack of professional interpreting services, informal, ad hoc interpreters are commonly employed in public psychiatric hospitals. We collected data on language practices in public psychiatric care in South Africa, and provide a detailed account of what happens…
Ad hoc interpreters in South African psychiatric services
Background: Language and communication lie at the heart of good quality mental health care and are a vital, yet complex, part of the diagnostic and treatment process. In South African mental health care, ad hoc interpreting arrangements are the status quo. However, these can cause both clinician and patient shame and distress.Objective: Though this issue has been researched from the point of view of informal interpreters, relatively little is kno…
Neurological Soft Signs, Spontaneous and Treatment Emergent Extrapyramidal Syndromes in Black Africans With First Episode Schizophrenia
Background: Very little is known about the relationship between spontaneous and treatment-induced motor syndromes in Africans with first episode schizophrenia. Objective: We investigated the association between spontaneous NSS and EPS, with treatment-induced EPS in a homogenous sample of Black Africans with first episode schizophrenia. Methods: We examined Xhosa (South Africa) and Yoruba (Nigeria) patients, using the Neurological Evaluation Scale…
The expression of neurological soft signs in two African populations with first-episode schizophrenia
Information about patterns of expression of neurological soft signs (NSS) in schizophrenia among individuals belonging to the same genetic ancestry may provide new insight for the understanding of the disease's genetic functions. This study aimed to investigate whether patterns of NSS expression in first episode schizophrenia are comparable in populations with dissimilar genetic ancestry. A sample of 207 patients with first episode schizophrenia …
Mentorship experiences during registrar training
In order to meet the significant staffing challenges to health care provision in South Africa, the need to support the training and retention of Black medical specialists has been identified. This small qualitative study aimed to explore experiences of mentorship among a group of Black medical specialists in hopes of understanding the value and potential challenges that these relationships raise. Ten Black medical specialists were interviewed abo…
Race trouble
BACKGROUND: This research aimed to identify and explore the experiences of Black registrars in their training in the Western Cape's academic hospitals in order to identify structures, practices, attitudes and ideologies that may promote or impede the advancement of Black doctors into specialist medicine. This is justified by the requirement for universities to work towards monitoring and evaluating efforts to create non-discriminatory and inclusi…
Doing their best
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: South Africa has 11 official languages, but most psychiatrists can speak only English and Afrikaans and there are no formal interpreter posts in the mental healthcare system. As a result clinicians communicate with patients who have limited English language proficiency (LEP) without the use of interpreters. We present case material, constituting recordings of interactions between clinicians and LEP patients in a public …
Hearing their voices
BACKGROUND: Recovery was previously regarded as a somewhat unattainable goal, and the subjective experience was de-emphasised. Lately, the person and his or her experiences are emphasised. MATERIAL: Seven participants were interviewed regarding their experience of recovery from first-episode psychosis in schizophrenia. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). DISCUSSION: Support and having to care for another are p…
Language, culture, and task shifting – an emerging challenge for global mental health
Language is at the heart of mental health care. Many high-income countries have sophisticated interpreter services, but in low- and middle-income countries there are not sufficient professional services, let alone interpreter services, and task shifting is used. In this article, we discuss this neglected issue in the context of low- and middle-income countries, where task shifting has been suggested as a solution to the problem of scarce mental h…
Towards a treatment model for family therapy for schizophrenia in an urban African setting
BACKGROUND: Family interventional programmes are effective adjuncts to pharmacotherapy in patients with schizophrenia. Modification in content of such programmes in response to local challenges is considered important, but has not been fully explored in Africa. AIMS: To assess the feasibility and acceptability of an interventional family study for people with schizophrenia and their families in a socially deprived urban community in South Africa …
The potential consequences of informal interpreting practices for assessment of patients in a South African psychiatric hospital
Mediating words, mediating worlds
Many mental health clinicians in South Africa use informal interpreters, who are employed to perform other functions, such as cleaners and security guards; there are no formally trained interpreters. Drawing on qualitative semistructured interviews, this paper examines the experiences of informal interpreters working within a psychiatric setting. Furthermore, this paper explores how working in this invisible capacity affects informal interpreters…
The potential consequences of informal interpreting practices for assessment of patients in a South African psychiatric hospital
When roles within interpreter-mediated psychiatric consultations speak louder than words
In South Africa, clinicians working in public psychiatric hospitals are mainly fluent in English and Afrikaans, while the majority of patients are not proficient in these languages. Due to a lack of professional interpreting services, informal, ad hoc interpreters are commonly employed in public psychiatric hospitals. We collected data on language practices in public psychiatric care in South Africa, and provide a detailed account of what happens…
Mediating words, mediating worlds
Many mental health clinicians in South Africa use informal interpreters, who are employed to perform other functions, such as cleaners and security guards; there are no formally trained interpreters. Drawing on qualitative semistructured interviews, this paper examines the experiences of informal interpreters working within a psychiatric setting. Furthermore, this paper explores how working in this invisible capacity affects informal interpreters…
Mediating words, mediating worlds
Many mental health clinicians in South Africa use informal interpreters, who are employed to perform other functions, such as cleaners and security guards; there are no formally trained interpreters. Drawing on qualitative semistructured interviews, this paper examines the experiences of informal interpreters working within a psychiatric setting. Furthermore, this paper explores how working in this invisible capacity affects informal interpreters…
Language, culture, and task shifting – an emerging challenge for global mental health
Language is at the heart of mental health care. Many high-income countries have sophisticated interpreter services, but in low- and middle-income countries there are not sufficient professional services, let alone interpreter services, and task shifting is used. In this article, we discuss this neglected issue in the context of low- and middle-income countries, where task shifting has been suggested as a solution to the problem of scarce mental h…
Towards a treatment model for family therapy for schizophrenia in an urban African setting
BACKGROUND: Family interventional programmes are effective adjuncts to pharmacotherapy in patients with schizophrenia. Modification in content of such programmes in response to local challenges is considered important, but has not been fully explored in Africa. AIMS: To assess the feasibility and acceptability of an interventional family study for people with schizophrenia and their families in a socially deprived urban community in South Africa …
The potential consequences of informal interpreting practices for assessment of patients in a South African psychiatric hospital
Doing their best
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: South Africa has 11 official languages, but most psychiatrists can speak only English and Afrikaans and there are no formal interpreter posts in the mental healthcare system. As a result clinicians communicate with patients who have limited English language proficiency (LEP) without the use of interpreters. We present case material, constituting recordings of interactions between clinicians and LEP patients in a public …
Hearing their voices
BACKGROUND: Recovery was previously regarded as a somewhat unattainable goal, and the subjective experience was de-emphasised. Lately, the person and his or her experiences are emphasised. MATERIAL: Seven participants were interviewed regarding their experience of recovery from first-episode psychosis in schizophrenia. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). DISCUSSION: Support and having to care for another are p…
Race trouble
BACKGROUND: This research aimed to identify and explore the experiences of Black registrars in their training in the Western Cape's academic hospitals in order to identify structures, practices, attitudes and ideologies that may promote or impede the advancement of Black doctors into specialist medicine. This is justified by the requirement for universities to work towards monitoring and evaluating efforts to create non-discriminatory and inclusi…
Mentorship experiences during registrar training
In order to meet the significant staffing challenges to health care provision in South Africa, the need to support the training and retention of Black medical specialists has been identified. This small qualitative study aimed to explore experiences of mentorship among a group of Black medical specialists in hopes of understanding the value and potential challenges that these relationships raise. Ten Black medical specialists were interviewed abo…
Neurological Soft Signs, Spontaneous and Treatment Emergent Extrapyramidal Syndromes in Black Africans With First Episode Schizophrenia
Background: Very little is known about the relationship between spontaneous and treatment-induced motor syndromes in Africans with first episode schizophrenia. Objective: We investigated the association between spontaneous NSS and EPS, with treatment-induced EPS in a homogenous sample of Black Africans with first episode schizophrenia. Methods: We examined Xhosa (South Africa) and Yoruba (Nigeria) patients, using the Neurological Evaluation Scale…
The expression of neurological soft signs in two African populations with first-episode schizophrenia
Information about patterns of expression of neurological soft signs (NSS) in schizophrenia among individuals belonging to the same genetic ancestry may provide new insight for the understanding of the disease's genetic functions. This study aimed to investigate whether patterns of NSS expression in first episode schizophrenia are comparable in populations with dissimilar genetic ancestry. A sample of 207 patients with first episode schizophrenia …
Ad hoc interpreters in South African psychiatric services
Background: Language and communication lie at the heart of good quality mental health care and are a vital, yet complex, part of the diagnostic and treatment process. In South African mental health care, ad hoc interpreting arrangements are the status quo. However, these can cause both clinician and patient shame and distress.Objective: Though this issue has been researched from the point of view of informal interpreters, relatively little is kno…
Global mental health
T32 MH116140 - NIMH NIH HHS
Mental Health, Culture and Resilience—Approaching the Covid-19 Pandemic From a South African Perspective
It is understandable that the challenges of living through a severe contagious outbreak, like the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), cannot be tolerated for long and that some individuals may require emotional, psychological, and spiritual support in order to strengthen their resilience to navigate this difficult period. As clinicians and researchers in the field of mental health, we need to appreciate the roles that culture, spirituality, and …
When roles within interpreter-mediated psychiatric consultations speak louder than words
In South Africa, clinicians working in public psychiatric hospitals are mainly fluent in English and Afrikaans, while the majority of patients are not proficient in these languages. Due to a lack of professional interpreting services, informal, ad hoc interpreters are commonly employed in public psychiatric hospitals. We collected data on language practices in public psychiatric care in South Africa, and provide a detailed account of what happens…
No one will come and help me make my life
Reimagining language access in mental healthcare through cultural integration in KwaZulu-Natal
The journal is published for the purpose of advancing scholarship in disability studies and rehabilitation sciences in a uniquely African context. Widely read by scholars, professionals and students, it encourages scholarly exchange between all disciplines and academics from low, middle and high-income countries to work towards the improvement of human development and its practices across the continent
Early intervention in psychosis programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America; challenges and recommendations
Background While early intervention in psychosis (EIP) programs have been increasingly implemented across the globe, many initiatives from Africa, Asia and Latin America are not widely known. The aims of the current review are (a) to describe population-based and small-scale, single-site EIP programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America, (b) to examine the variability between programs located in low-and-middle income (LMIC) and high-income countries…
Cultural adaptation of a brief psychological intervention for PTSD in severe mental illness
High rates of trauma exposure among patients with severe mental illness (SMI) in Botswana highlight the need for appropriate interventions. Culturally adapted interventions have been reported to be more acceptable, effective and feasible. This study aimed to culturally adapt the Brief Relaxation, Education and Trauma Healing (BREATHE), a brief psychological intervention to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among people with SMI in Botsw…
Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Prevalence of Mental Disorders and Suicidality Among Children and Adolescents Living with HIV in South Africa
Despite progress in HIV prevention and treatment, global data suggests that youth living with HIV remain at risk of mental disorders and suicidality. However, reliable epidemiological data from South Africa (SA) are limited. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to synthesize evidence on the prevalence of mental disorders and suicidality among SA children and adolescents (≤ 19 years) living with HIV. Following PRISMA guidelines, we s…
Poverty alleviation for people with severe mental health conditions in South Africa
People with severe mental health conditions (SMHC) and caregivers in South Africa often experience poverty. The PRIZE trial found that recovery groups were acceptable, feasible and potentially effective in reducing relapse. Addressing economic needs was identified as a means to increase impact. This study aimed to understand the acceptability of poverty alleviation interventions as an adjunct to psychosocial interventions.We conducted two focus g…
Feasibility and acceptability of unconditional cash transfers intervention among unemployed young adults with first-episode psychosis in South Africa
There is a lack of high-quality evidence on cash transfers as an intervention to support young people with first-episode psychosis (FEP) in Africa. To address this gap, we conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a 3-month follow-up period to assess the feasibility and acceptability of an unconditional cash transfer (UCT) intervention among FEP. We enrolled 60 unemployed young adults (18–29 years) with FEP from three public hospit…
Psychology (16 works) · Medicine (15 works) · Psychiatry (14 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Mental health (9 works) · Migration, Health and Trauma (8 works) · Political science (8 works) · Health care (7 works) · Interpreting and Communication in Healthcare (7 works) · Qualitative research (7 works)