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Psychiatric Patients And The Attitude Of Health Workers In Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital
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1.2 Statement of Problem
Mental illness is a diseased
condition, which is deemed undesirable for both the affected individual
and the society because it affects adversely the normal functioning of
the mental, psychological and emotional make-up of the individual and so
it makes the capacity for insight, orientation, judgment, thought, mood
and perception blurred (WHO 2001; WPA 2002). The mentally sick in
Nigeria culture, most traditional communities ought to look after them
since they are still a part of the community and there are possible
traditional therapeutic regimens to bring them to a relative state of
normality (Jegede 1981; Adebowale and Ogunlesi 1999; Gureje et al.
2005). However, in Nigeria the situation is now different as mentally
ill individuals are socially stigmatized even after they have been cured
of this illness (Jegede 2005; Brinn 2000; Binitie 1970). This is in
contrast with the communal and closely-knit kinship system in which each
person has a responsibility for the well being of the other which
dominated African societies (Ayorinde 1983). The mentally sick people
constitute nuisance since their consciousness is affected, this is why
they need treatment and rehabilitation but the Nigerian situation is
quite different as government and the family unit have not done much
towards their rehabilitation since many mentally sick persons are not
taken care of but allowed to become vagrants. Also, health workers who
should know better seem not to display positive attitude towards such
sick people. There is also the problem of cultural factors, which label
such people as evil possessed and witchcraft ‘infested’. Most Nigerians
believe that mental illness are afflictions caused by supernatural
forces (Udoh 2002). Therefore they hold unorthodox beliefs that only
traditional and syncretic religious healers can offer more effective and
sustainable treatment than orthodox health practitioners.
1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study
Healthcare
professionals have crucial contact with people with mental disorders;
hence the aim of this study is to assess the attitudes of health workers
towards psychiatric patients. This can further divided into the
following objectives:
i. To access reasons for the negative attitude of healthcare workers towards psychiatric patients.
ii. To determine whether there is adequate healthcare
equipment and facility for taking care of the mentally ill.
iii. To determine the impacts of fear on attitude of health workers towards psychiatric patients.
iv. To proffer necessary solutions to the identified problems.
1.4 Research Questions
i. What are the reasons for the negative attitude of healthcare workers towards psychiatric patients?
ii. Are there adequate healthcare equipment and facility for the taking care of psychiatric patients?
iii. Is there a link between fear and attitude of health workers towards psychiatric patients?
iv. What are the likely solutions to the identified problems?
1.5 Hypotheses
H01:
There is no significant relationship between medical knowledge,
cultural beliefs and health workers’ attitudes towards the mentally
sick.
H02: There is no significant relationship between fear and attitude health workers’ attitudes towards the mentally sick.
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