scholarly journals - WHERE LIES THE RISK? AN ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING CHILD MENTAL HEALTH RISK AND VULNERABILITIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

2015 ◽  
pp. 52-77
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Child Mental Health ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Ecological Approach ◽  
Sub Saharan

scholarly journals Where Lies the Risk? An Ecological Approach to Understanding Child Mental Health Risk and Vulnerabilities in Sub-Saharan Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olayinka Atilola
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Child Mental Health ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Ecological Approach ◽  
Vulnerability Factors ◽  
Sub Saharan

Efforts at improving child-health and development initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa had focused on the physical health of children due to the neglect of child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) policy initiatives. A thorough and broad-based understanding of the prevalent child mental-health risk and vulnerability factors is needed to successfully articulate CAMH policies. In this discourse, we present a narrative on the child mental-health risk and vulnerability factors in sub-Saharan Africa. Through an ecological point of view, we identified widespread family poverty, poor availability and uptake of childcare resources, inadequate community and institutional childcare systems, and inadequate framework for social protection for vulnerable children as among the risk and vulnerability factors for CAMH in the region. Others are poor workplace policy/practice that does not support work-family life balance, poor legislative framework for child protection, and some harmful traditional practices. We conclude that an ecological approach shows that child mental-health risks are diverse and cut across different layers of the care environment. The approach also provides a broad and holistic template from which appropriate CAMH policy direction in sub-Saharan Africa can be understood.

scholarly journals Reproductive mental health risk in Nigeria: myths, facts and challenges

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 84-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abiodun O. Adewuya ◽  
Olutayo O. Aloba
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Family Structure ◽  
Emotional Distress ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Intact Family ◽  
Women's Identity ◽  
Sub Saharan

It is widely known that Africans and especially Nigerians place much emphasis on childbearing. It has been said that the effect of childbirth relates to the society and culture's response to parenthood and the existing family structure. Many rituals exist in African societies to signify the changes in women's identity, roles and status during pregnancy and following childbirth. Earlier studies have suggested that perinatal emotional distress is rare among women in sub-Saharan Africa, with the supposed intact family structure in the region acting as a protective factor.

scholarly journals Positioning for success: building capacity in academic competencies for early-career researchers in sub-Saharan Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Merritt ◽  
H. Jack ◽  
W. Mangezi ◽  
D. Chibanda ◽  
M. Abas
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Training Experience ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
Academic Competencies ◽  
Sub Saharan

Background. Capacity building is essential in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to address the gap in skills to conduct and implement research. Capacity building must not only include scientific and technical knowledge, but also broader competencies, such as writing, disseminating research and achieving work–life balance. These skills are thought to promote long-term career success for researchers in high-income countries (HICs) but the availability of such training is limited in LMICs. Methods. This paper presents the contextualisation and implementation of the Academic Competencies Series (ACES). ACES is an early-career researcher development programme adapted from a UK university. Through consultation between HIC and LMIC partners, an innovative series of 10 workshops was designed covering themes of self-development, engagement and writing skills. ACES formed part of the African Mental Health Research Initiative (AMARI), a multi-national LMIC-led consortium to recruit, train, support and network early-career mental health researchers from four sub-Saharan African countries. Results. Of the 10 ACES modules, three were HIC-LMIC co-led, four led by HIC facilitators with LMIC training experience and three led by external consultants from HICs. Six workshops were delivered face to face and four by webinar. Course attendance was over 90% and the delivery cost was approximately US$4500 per researcher trained. Challenges of adaptation, attendance and technical issues are described for the first round of workshops. Conclusions. This paper indicates that a skills development series for early-career researchers can be contextualised and implemented in LMIC settings, and is feasible for co-delivery with local partners at relatively low cost.

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