Perspectives of Community Nurses on Treatment Engagement of Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMI): A Qualitative Study from South India
Background: There is increasing evidence of the need for treatment engagement between Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMIs) and Mental Health Professionals (MHPs). This therapeutic process involves collaborative work between patients and MHPs, which improves the condition. Community nurses a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/02537176231207986 |
| _version_ | 1797236945829494784 |
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| author | Revathi Somanathan Sailaxmi Gandhi Thanapal Sivakumar Narayana Manjunatha Deepak Jayarajan Jagadisha Thirthalli Rajani Parthasarathy |
| author_facet | Revathi Somanathan Sailaxmi Gandhi Thanapal Sivakumar Narayana Manjunatha Deepak Jayarajan Jagadisha Thirthalli Rajani Parthasarathy |
| author_sort | Revathi Somanathan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: There is increasing evidence of the need for treatment engagement between Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMIs) and Mental Health Professionals (MHPs). This therapeutic process involves collaborative work between patients and MHPs, which improves the condition. Community nurses are uniquely positioned to facilitate this process as they act as the focal point of interaction between patients and the health system. Methods: This qualitative study explored the community nurses’ experiences in treatment engagement with PwSMI through eight group interviews of 35 community nurses from District Mental Health Programs (DMHPs) across Karnataka (South India) from February 2020 to March 2020. The audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed and coded to arrive at themes and subthemes. Results: The major themes identified were factors influencing treatment engagement, strategies to tackle treatment nonengagement, and challenges in dealing with nonengagement. The reasons for nonengagement were lack of insight and lack of knowledge of sociocultural, logistic, and treatment-related factors. The DMHP teams contacted patients through phone calls, home visits, and liaisons with health workers and intervened with them through education and depot injections. The major challenges were difficulty conducting home visits, distances, the unavailability of medications, and the need for adequate infrastructure and human resources. Conclusion: Community nurses address a few factors of nonengagement, such as insight, sociocultural factors, and treatment-related factors. Addressing the systemic challenges and adequate training of nurses in intervening in the dropped-out PwSMIs would help to reduce the treatment gap. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T17:11:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b25fe7dae83647d397675ae0fff0f4bb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0253-7176 0975-1564 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T17:11:55Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-b25fe7dae83647d397675ae0fff0f4bb2024-03-28T10:03:32ZengSAGE PublishingIndian Journal of Psychological Medicine0253-71760975-15642024-03-014610.1177/02537176231207986Perspectives of Community Nurses on Treatment Engagement of Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMI): A Qualitative Study from South IndiaRevathi Somanathan0Sailaxmi Gandhi1Thanapal Sivakumar2Narayana Manjunatha3Deepak Jayarajan4Jagadisha Thirthalli5Rajani Parthasarathy6 Dept. of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Dept. of Nursing, NIMHANS, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Dept. of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Dept. of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Mater Mental Health, HNELHD, New South Wales, Australia. Dept. of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Dept. of Health and Family Welfare, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.Background: There is increasing evidence of the need for treatment engagement between Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMIs) and Mental Health Professionals (MHPs). This therapeutic process involves collaborative work between patients and MHPs, which improves the condition. Community nurses are uniquely positioned to facilitate this process as they act as the focal point of interaction between patients and the health system. Methods: This qualitative study explored the community nurses’ experiences in treatment engagement with PwSMI through eight group interviews of 35 community nurses from District Mental Health Programs (DMHPs) across Karnataka (South India) from February 2020 to March 2020. The audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed and coded to arrive at themes and subthemes. Results: The major themes identified were factors influencing treatment engagement, strategies to tackle treatment nonengagement, and challenges in dealing with nonengagement. The reasons for nonengagement were lack of insight and lack of knowledge of sociocultural, logistic, and treatment-related factors. The DMHP teams contacted patients through phone calls, home visits, and liaisons with health workers and intervened with them through education and depot injections. The major challenges were difficulty conducting home visits, distances, the unavailability of medications, and the need for adequate infrastructure and human resources. Conclusion: Community nurses address a few factors of nonengagement, such as insight, sociocultural factors, and treatment-related factors. Addressing the systemic challenges and adequate training of nurses in intervening in the dropped-out PwSMIs would help to reduce the treatment gap.https://doi.org/10.1177/02537176231207986 |
| spellingShingle | Revathi Somanathan Sailaxmi Gandhi Thanapal Sivakumar Narayana Manjunatha Deepak Jayarajan Jagadisha Thirthalli Rajani Parthasarathy Perspectives of Community Nurses on Treatment Engagement of Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMI): A Qualitative Study from South India Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine |
| title | Perspectives of Community Nurses on Treatment Engagement of Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMI): A Qualitative Study from South India |
| title_full | Perspectives of Community Nurses on Treatment Engagement of Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMI): A Qualitative Study from South India |
| title_fullStr | Perspectives of Community Nurses on Treatment Engagement of Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMI): A Qualitative Study from South India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Perspectives of Community Nurses on Treatment Engagement of Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMI): A Qualitative Study from South India |
| title_short | Perspectives of Community Nurses on Treatment Engagement of Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses (PwSMI): A Qualitative Study from South India |
| title_sort | perspectives of community nurses on treatment engagement of persons with severe mental illnesses pwsmi a qualitative study from south india |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/02537176231207986 |
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