The Barriers and Facilitators to Decentralised Nurse-Led Mental Health Service Delivery in Sierra Leone
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8908645 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Helen Hopwood (0000-0002-5386-158X, King's College London), Dawn Harris (0000-0001-7010-9077, King's College London), Stephen Sevalie (0000-0003-2267-253X, Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre), Gloria Iyawa (0000-0003-1059-6656, University of Salford, corresponding author), Julie Langan Martin (0000-0002-0589-3464, University of Glasgow) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1071-1082 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Community Mental Health Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0010-3853 • E-ISSN: 1573-2789 |
| Publisher | Springer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10597-023-01087-0 |
| PMID | 36692702 |
| OpenAlex | W4317830814 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 17 |
In 2009, 98.0% of people with mental illness in Sierra Leone were not receiving treatment, partly due to the absence of public psychiatric facilities outside the capital. In response to this situation, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation rolled out nurse-led mental health units (MHUs) to every district. This study evaluates the barriers and facilitators to mental health service delivery in decentralised MHUs in Sierra Leone using key informant interviews and focus group discussions with 13 purposefully sampled clinical staff and senior management personnel. The interviews were audio-recorded, translated from Krio if necessary, transcribed, and analysed using manifest content analysis. The findings suggest that factors affecting nurse-led mental health service delivery include small workforce and high workload, culture and beliefs, risks, lack of safety measures and required resources, outdated policies, poor salaries, lack of funds for medication, distance, power, influence, and stigma. Factors that could facilitate nurse-led mental health services include: increasing motivation, increasing the workforce, knowledge sharing, mentorship, availability of medication, passion and modern psychiatry. The findings contribute towards understanding the challenges and opportunities faced by the recently established nurse-led decentralised mental health services across Sierra Leone, in order to address the large mental health treatment gap. We hope the findings will inform further policy and planning to improve the quality of decentralised mental healthcare
Business · Focus group · Medical education · Mental health · Mentorship · Political science · Psychiatry · Service (business · Service delivery framework · Sierra leone · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Workforce · Family Caregiving in Mental Illness · Medicine · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Nursing · Psychiatric care and mental health services
Global Burden of Disease and the Impact of Mental and Addictive Disorders
Barriers to improvement of mental health services in low-income and middle-income countries
WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) Intervention Guide
No health without mental health
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Acceptability and feasibility of using non-specialist health workers to deliver mental health care
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |