Takalani Ellen Mbedzi

Background: Adolescents in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) continue to face substantial challenges related to sexual and reproductive health (SRH), including high rates of unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and limited access to accurate reproductive health information and services. Rural provinces of South Africa, such as Limpopo, are no exception, with notably higher pregnancy rates. Aim: This study aimed to explore adolescent girls’ perceptions and experiences associated with school-based comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) programs and their perceived role in pregnancy prevention in Bolobedu, Limpopo province, South Africa. Methods: A qualitative, descriptive, and contextual design was employed. Data were collected through individual interviews and field notes from adolescent girls aged 14–19 years who were accessing contraceptives or had given birth. Content analysis was conducted using Tesch’s method. Findings: Results suggest that the quality and contents of CSE programs varied widely, leading to CSE intervention programs not being successfully implemented, leading to poor uptake and no behavior change. Implications: While research on CES programs shows that the CSE programming varies and can be vital to reducing adolescent pregnancy, its success depends on the quality of the implementation, which leads to behavior change. The research finds that the adoption of Comprehensive Sexual Education in schools and communities is vital to tackling the high incidence of adolescent pregnancy. However, its success depends on the quality of implementation, facilitator training, and resource availability.

Background: Admission of an individual for a 72-h assessment for mental problems is a critical period for evaluating an individual’s mental health and determining the need for further treatment. Family members play a pivotal role during the care, treatment and rehabilitation (CTR) of an individual subjected to 72-h assessments. Aim: The study aimed to describe the experiences of family members during a 72-h assessment admission. Setting: Purposive sampling was used to select 16 family members from two selected public general hospitals in the Vhembe district, Limpopo province. Methods: A qualitative approach was employed using explorative, descriptive and contextual designs. Data were collected through semi-structured face-to-face individual interviews from 10 family members who were purposively selected. Tesch’s open coding method was employed to analyse the obtained qualitative data. Results: Family members shared varied negative lived experiences of the 72-h assessment admission of mental healthcare users (MHCUs), which compromises their quality of life. These experiences were based on the CTR of MHCUs. Three themes emerged from data analysis, namely, narratives related to the care provision practices of MHCU during the 72-h assessment period, narratives related to structural constraints, and narratives related to post-72-h assessment referral to another hospital logistics. Conclusion: The study concludes that the experiences of family members regarding the 72-h assessment admission in public hospitals call for attention to some measures to be put in place to address their diverse needs. Contribution: This article contributes to the body of knowledge regarding family members’ experiences of 72-h assessment admission regarding the kind of support needed by family members. The article further provides insights into the experiences of family members.

Introduction: In light of the rising global prevalence of mental illness and the need for deinstitutionalised care, families are required to provide community‐based care to mental healthcare users. Family members need to be prepared and supported to undertake this role. Aim: The aim was to develop psychosocial interventions to ease the burden of family caregivers of mental healthcare users. Method: Using convenience sampling, 21 stakeholders were selected. The participants had at least 2 years' experience and/or expertise in the care of family members of mental healthcare users. During a workshop, a nominal group technique was used to collect data. The six steps of Braun and Clarke guided the data analysis. Results: Three themes were identified, namely, interventions to provide mental health education, interventions to promote social support for families and interventions to ensure effective psychological support for families and mental healthcare users. Discussion: The nominal group technique allowed healthcare and community stakeholders to become aware of their role in supporting family caregivers of mental healthcare users. Healthcare providers need to be empowered to use basic family counselling skills. Implications for Practice: Implementation of the developed interventions might lead to a reduction in relapse rates and relieve the caregiver burden.

Background: In recovery-oriented mental health care, family members of mental health care users form part of the caring team. Families are expected to care for mental health care users without support in the under-resourced rural Vhembe district in South Africa.Aim: This study aims to describe the lifeworld of family members caring for mental health care users in rural areas to inform the development of a support programme.Setting: Purposive sampling was used to select 16 family members from eight community health centres in the Vhembe district.Methods: A qualitative approach, using a descriptive phenomenological design, was adopted to conduct unstructured interviews that were transcribed, translated and analysed using a descriptive method.Results: Family members continuously contemplate their responsibilities. Endless concerns and stress result in forgetfulness and physical problems such as insomnia, hypertension and pain. Family members feel powerless and helpless when there is no improvement and support from community resources. Fear of being violated, embarrassed and stigmatised by community members results in social isolation and depression.Conclusion: Caregiving is burdensome in poorly resourced areas. Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness Psychosomatic and depressive symptoms relate to the lack of effective community support which are likely to result in compromising the care they provide.Contribution: The results call for the Department of Health to strengthen community mental health services and for health care professionals to provide supportive interventions based on the needs of mental health care users and their families.

Background: In South Africa, many mental healthcare users reside in rural areas and 91% of them live with their family members. Exploring and describing the needs of family members caring for mental healthcare users is important to determine their expectations of the healthcare system. Objectives: The study aimed to explore and describe the healthcare needs and expectations of family members caring for mental healthcare users in Vhembe district, Limpopo province, South Africa Method: A qualitative, descriptive and contextual design was used to collect data from 16 purposively selected family members caring for mental healthcare users. Data were collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews, and analysed using thematic data analysis to develop themes and categories. Results: The results of the interviews yielded two themes, healthcare needs and expectations of family members. The needs included physical healthcare, psychological healthcare, and social, financial, educational and spiritual needs. The healthcare expectations were divided into two sub-themes: (1) expectations from the healthcare systems, and (2) expectations from healthcare professionals. Conclusion: The study showed that support from community members and healthcare providers could reduce the burden of care perceived by family members. Results confirmed the need for developing a family psychoeducational programme adapted to the South African context to meet the family members’ needs. Quantitative research on healthcare needs with a larger sample of family members is recommended. Contribution: The study may contribute to mental health nursing practice and education. Nursing support based on the needs of family members may enhance their well-being and caregiving abilities. The importance of tailor-made psychoeducational family support should be emphasised in nursing education.

From a public health standpoint, a stringent visitation policy was necessary during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it had unforeseen communicative and emotional health consequences for family members. This study explored family members’ experiences regarding implementing a restricted visitation policy when a patient was admitted with COVID-19 at public hospitals in the Vhembe district. Researchers used an exploratory, descriptive, and contextual qualitative technique. Twelve family members made up the population. Unstructured telephone interviews were used to obtain the data, and open coding was used to analyse data. Ethics were consistently followed. Before taking part, participants provided verbal informed consent, acknowledging that they could withdraw from the study if necessary. Three themes emerged: inadequate measures for temporary communication channels and techniques, the mental health effects of COVID-19 admission, and poor/lack of standardised visitation policy during the COVID 19-pandemic. There was a need to balance safety from contracting COVID-19 infection and promoting family-centred care. Virtual visits through telecommunication solutions could reduce fear and anxiety as the family could be updated on the progress of the hospitalised relative. Alternatively, hospital managers must allocate a dedicated person in the unit to update families when they call and enquire about the conditions.

Background: Effective communication between health care professionals, admitted patients, and their families is crucial to improving the health care outcomes and patient satisfaction. Hence, barriers to effective communication cause a lot of confusion, frustration, and misunderstanding. The study aimed to identify the perceived barriers to effective communication between patients, their families, and health care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic in public hospitals in Limpopo Province. The study was conducted in rural areas of Vhembe District, Limpopo Province. Methodology: A qualitative exploratory descriptive method was adopted to explore and describe the barriers of effective communication among patients, relatives, and health care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic in public hospitals in the Vhembe District. Eleven (11) participants were purposively selected. Unstructured in-depth individual interviews were used to collect data and analyzed using thematic analysis following Tesch’s eight steps. Results: The study findings revealed that there was ineffective communication by health care professionals. This was discussed under three themes that emerged: poor communication of diagnosis and prognosis and treatment outcomes; lack of accurate knowledge regarding the virus morphology, variant, and treatment protocols; and the inconsistencies in the dissemination of COVID-19 protocols. Conclusions: Full communication benefits both patients, relatives, and health care professionals as knowledge and understanding are enhanced through communication. Therefore, health care professionals should provide the patients and their relatives with full information about the disease and the visitation protocols to be followed. The study contribution was to explore barriers to effective communication to the patients and relatives by the health care professionals.

The South African Journal of Psychiatry publishes topical content in psychiatry for clinical practice and academic pursuits, including work in the subspecialty areas of psychiatry.