Practices of Congolese Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Providers: A Qualitative Study on Gaps and Obstacles
The article “Practices of Congolese Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Providers: A Qualitative Study on Gaps and Obstacles” by Astrid ter Wiel, Associate Consultant at MSM’s Expert Centre on Emerging Economies and external co-author Henny Slegh was recently published in Intervention: Journal of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Conflict Areas.
Full abstract
Mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services, including services related to sexual and reproductive health problems, are highly unaddressed in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The authors present findings of a qualitative study that reveals three gaps related to the knowledge and skills of staff in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to provide proper MHPSS, with integrated care for sexual and reproductive health. These gaps relate to reliance on western imposed approaches that only partly fit the local context, to a strong focus on medication, and to a lack of training.
Further, the data show two main obstacles to improve current practices: persistent cultural taboos and misconceptions about what mental health and sexual health problems are and how they come to exist, and a very limited referral system. The gaps and obstacles illustrate the complex context in Eastern DRC, they highlight the importance of locally tailored education and training, and they stress the need for system changes to improve access to and quality of MHPSS.
From a national and regional perspective, the results seem to call for a paradigm shift as to how mental health is approached and embedded in educational systems and society.
The full article is available in the Journal of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Conflict Areas and can be accessed online. Click here to read the full article.
Orange Knowledge Programme
This article follows a Tailor-Made-Training programme which had the main objective of training the providers of mental health care and psychosocial support, and health and sexual and reproductive rights in the DRC. The project was implemented by Maastricht University—Maastricht School of Management (the Netherlands) and Living Peace Institute (DRC), funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and regulated by Nuffic.
MSM's Expert Centre on Emerging Economies
This project is part of MSM’s Expert Centre on Emerging Economies and was carried out in 2021/2022. The department is an expert centre on local economic development in emerging and developing markets. We capacitate managers and professionals from government, private sector, NGOs, and post-secondary education in Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Latin America. We offer consultancy and customised training programmes, and we manage complex projects in key sectors, e.g. water, agriculture and health. For more information click here.
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