Elina Stefanovics
Tanzania
Research Article
Beliefs and Attitudes about Mental Illness among Lay Church-Based Health
Workers and Medical Trainees in Nigeria
Author(s): Theddeus Iheanacho, Elina Stefanovics, Echezona E Ezeanolue and Robert Rosenheck
Theddeus Iheanacho, Elina Stefanovics, Echezona E Ezeanolue and Robert Rosenheck
Increasingly, mental health services in resource-limited settings are being delivered by lay health workers with limited professional training. This study compared beliefs and attitudes about mental illness among church-based lay health workers in Enugu, Nigeria with no psychiatric training (n=59) and medical trainees with different levels of exposure to psychiatric care from two teaching hospitals in Nigeria; University of Ibadan (n=150) and Imo State University (n=83). A 43-item self-report questionnaire was used to assess their beliefs and attitudes. Exploratory factor analysis using varimax rotation identified four distinct constructs. Analysis of Co-Variance (ANCOVA) was used to compare these constructs across the three groups. Factor analysis identified four domains representing F1) social acceptance F2) normalization of social roles F3) non-superstitious causation of mental ill.. View More»
DOI:
10.4172/2378-5756.1000380