New mental health legislation in South Africa - principles and practicalities: A view from the Department of Health

The Mental Health Care Act has been passed by parliament. There are a number of changes from the Mental Health Act (Act 18 of 1973) and this article outlines the basic principles of the new legislation and several of the procedural modifications which follow. The legislation has a strong human rights focus and addresses problems relating to current abuses of people with mental disabilities. The success of the legislation will be dependent on the commitment of all role-players to implement both the spirit and the letter of the law, and stakeholders are requested to become partners with the Department of Health in this important endeavour.South African Psychiatry Review - August 200

Assistance needed for the integration of orphaned and vulnerable children – views of South African family and community members

Guardianship within families is often regarded as the most viable and preferred option for orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC). However, this will place a considerably increased burden on the new caregivers of these children. This study examines whether assistance to prospective families would incline them towards incorporating children and, if so, what would act as ‘threshold' incentives for them. Adults (N = 1 400) in diverse locations and of various ‘relational proximity' to children were interviewed in three high HIV/AIDS prevalence provinces in South Africa. Close relatives were more inclined to take in children and would generally require lower levels of assistance than more distanced adults. Nonetheless, for most poor families, no matter their relation to the child, help is critical. More distanced families, friends and strangers also showed a strong willingness to incorporate children – provided they receive sufficient help. For all categories, the greater the assistance the more likely they would be to take in children. While direct financial assistance was important, assistance with education-related costs and having a trained and caring person come in ‘now and then' to help were also significant factors. The age and HIV status of the child were viewed as important intervening factors in deciding whether or not to take in an additional child/ren by some people. Keywords: orphans and vulnerable children, South Africa, guardianship, incentives. RÉSUMÉ La tutelle dans des familles est vue comme une option viable et préférée pour des orphelins et des enfants vulnérables (OVC). Néanmoins, ceci va augmenter le fardeau des nouveaux travailleurs sociaux qui vont s'occuper de ces enfants. Cette étude vérifie si une aide aux familles prospectives amènerait ces familles à prendre les enfants dans leurs foyers. Si c'est le cas, que serait le seuil d'encouragement. Des adultes (N = 1 400) dans divers endroits ayant la proximité apparentée variée vis-à-vis les enfants ont été interrogés dans trois provinces d'Afrique du Sud où la prédominance du VIH/SIDA est élevée. Les familles plus proches étaient plus disposés à prendre les enfants et ils demandent moins d'aide par rapport aux adultes plus éloignés. Cependant, pour la plus part des familles pauvres, peu importe leur proximité d'apparentée aux enfants, l'aide est essentielle. Davantage des familles plus éloignées, des amis et des inconnus ont également montré une volonté forte de prendre les enfants à condition qu'ils reçoivent assez d'aide. Pour toutes les catégories, plus qu'il y ait de l'aide, il y a davantage de gens qui prendraient les enfants.Tandis qu'une aide financière était importante, une aide des frais d'études et d'employer une personne bien formée qui va s'occuper et prendre soin des enfants de temps à autre furent des facteurs importants. L'âge et le statut de VIH de l'enfant étaient considérés comme des facteurs importants à la décision de prendre ou de ne pas prendre un/des enfant(s) supplémentaire(s). Mots clés: les orphelins et les enfants vulnérables, l'Afrique du Sud, la tutelle, l'encouragement

Editorial: World Health Day 2001 - 'Mental Health'

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Evaluation of Mental Health Services in the Free State

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An overview of cancer research in South African academic and research institutions, 2013 - 2014

Background and objectives. Cancer is emerging as a critical public health problem in South Africa (SA). Recognising the importance of research in addressing the cancer burden, the Ministerial Advisory Committee on the Prevention and Control of Cancer (MACC) research working group undertook a review of the current cancer research landscape in SA and related this to the cancer burden.Methods. Academic and research institutions in SA were contacted to provide information on the titles of all current and recently completed (2013/2014) cancer research projects. Three MACC research working group members used the project titles to independently classify the projects by type of research (basic, clinical and public health – projects could be classified in more than one category) and disease site. A more detailed classification of projects addressing the five most common cancers diagnosed in males and females in SA was conducted using an adapted Common Scientific Outline (CSO) categorisation.Results. Information was available on 556 cancer research projects. Overall, 301 projects were classified as clinical, 254 as basic science and 71 as public health research. The most common cancers being researched were cancers of the breast (n=95 projects) and cervix (n=43), leukaemia (n=36), non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (n=35) and lung cancer (n=23). Classification of the five most common cancers in males and females in SA, using the adapted CSO categories, showed that the majority of projects related to treatment, with relatively few projects on prevention, survivorship and patient perspectives.Conclusion. Our findings established that there is a dearth of public health cancer research in SA

Young people's data governance preferences for their mental health data: MindKind Study findings from India, South Africa, and the United Kingdom

Mobile devices offer a scalable opportunity to collect longitudinal data that facilitate advances in mental health treatment to address the burden of mental health conditions in young people. Sharing these data with the research community is critical to gaining maximal value from rich data of this nature. However, the highly personal nature of the data necessitates understanding the conditions under which young people are willing to share them. To answer this question, we developed the MindKind Study, a multinational, mixed methods study that solicits young people's preferences for how their data are governed and quantifies potential participants' willingness to join under different conditions. We employed a community-based participatory approach, involving young people as stakeholders and co-researchers. At sites in India, South Africa, and the UK, we enrolled 3575 participants ages 16-24 in the mobile app-mediated quantitative study and 143 participants in the public deliberation-based qualitative study. We found that while youth participants have strong preferences for data governance, these preferences did not translate into (un)willingness to join the smartphone-based study. Participants grappled with the risks and benefits of participation as well as their desire that the "right people" access their data. Throughout the study, we recognized young people's commitment to finding solutions and co-producing research architectures to allow for more open sharing of mental health data to accelerate and derive maximal benefit from research

Biomedical colonialism or local autonomy?: local healers in the fight against tuberculosis

Analiza el papel de los agentes médicos autóctonos y sus conocimientos en las campañas antituberculosas contemporáneas en el África subsahariana. Sitúa la medicina contemporánea, llevada a cabo en África en la herencia cultural de la medicina colonial, para comprender el marco histórico en el que se desarrollaron, a partir de los años setenta del siglo XX, las estrategias de la Organización Mundial de la Salud de promoción y desarrollo de las medicinas 'tradicionales'. En los proyectos sanitarios analizados, se evalúan las prácticas médicas locales y se entrenan a los agentes autóctonos para integrarlos en actividades estrictamente biomédicas: identificación de síntomas, remisión a hospitales o supervisión de tratamientos farmacológicos.The article explores the role played by indigenous medical agents, and their knowledge, within contemporary tuberculosis campaigns in sub-Saharan Africa. To understand the historical framework within which the World Health Organization devised its strategies to promote and develop traditional medicine as of the 1970s, the article contextualizes contemporary medicine as a cultural legacy of colonial medicine. Under the public healthcare projects analyzed in the article, local medical practices were assessed and indigenous agents trained so they could take part in strictly biomedical activities, like symptom identification, referrals to hospitals, or supervision of drug treatments.Trabajo realizado para la obtención del Diploma de Estudios Avanzados (DEA) en el programa de doctorado Salud: Antropología e Historia, bajo la dirección de la profesora Rosa María Medina Doménech

The effect of cultural variables on the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test and the Standard Progressive Matrices

MA, Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersran

Serious mental illness and HIV / AIDS

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