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Community based mental health care: a necessity for realising the right to independent living and community inclusion of persons with mental disabilities in Uganda

Using a purely doctrinal legal analysis, the thesis advocates for the provision of community based mental health care as a key strategy in promoting the realisation of the right to independent living and community inclusion for persons with mental disabilities (PWMDs) in Uganda. Uganda ratified the...

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Main Author: Atim, Patricia
Other Authors: Barratt, Amanda
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Private Law 2023
Subjects:
Law
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access_status_str Open Access
author Atim, Patricia
author2 Barratt, Amanda
author_browse Atim, Patricia
Barratt, Amanda
author_facet Barratt, Amanda
Atim, Patricia
author_sort Atim, Patricia
collection Thesis
description Using a purely doctrinal legal analysis, the thesis advocates for the provision of community based mental health care as a key strategy in promoting the realisation of the right to independent living and community inclusion for persons with mental disabilities (PWMDs) in Uganda. Uganda ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRDP) on the 25th September 2008 without reservations following its adoption in 2006. This is in addition to earlier undertakings in a number of preceding international and regional human rights treaties that guaranteed the rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs). Prior to the ratification of the UNCRPD, Uganda's also had national progressive legal framework, like the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995 and the Person with Disability Act 2006 (now Persons with Disabilities Act 2020) that provided meaningful safeguards towards the protection of the rights of PWDs. Despite these commendable legislative gains, the thesis contends that Uganda is still largely premised in the medical model of disability and far from tangibly attaining the aspirations set out in the UNCRPD and its paradigm shift to the social and human rights model of disability. The recently enacted Mental Health Act 2019 though progressive still falls short of streamlining the provision of community based mental health care to address the long standing practice of institutionalisation of PWMDs in mental health facilities and prisons. The social and environmental barriers manifested in negative attitudes, stigma and discrimination are characteristic of the populace. Institutionalisation, isolation and segregation of PWMDs in violation of Article 19 of the UNCRPD and other related articles is evidently persistent. To exacerbate the situation, Uganda has not yet conceived a plan to design an independent or community living strategy or policy for her citizens with mental disabilities.
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license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2023
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/37961 Community based mental health care: a necessity for realising the right to independent living and community inclusion of persons with mental disabilities in Uganda Atim, Patricia Barratt, Amanda Law Using a purely doctrinal legal analysis, the thesis advocates for the provision of community based mental health care as a key strategy in promoting the realisation of the right to independent living and community inclusion for persons with mental disabilities (PWMDs) in Uganda. Uganda ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRDP) on the 25th September 2008 without reservations following its adoption in 2006. This is in addition to earlier undertakings in a number of preceding international and regional human rights treaties that guaranteed the rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs). Prior to the ratification of the UNCRPD, Uganda's also had national progressive legal framework, like the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995 and the Person with Disability Act 2006 (now Persons with Disabilities Act 2020) that provided meaningful safeguards towards the protection of the rights of PWDs. Despite these commendable legislative gains, the thesis contends that Uganda is still largely premised in the medical model of disability and far from tangibly attaining the aspirations set out in the UNCRPD and its paradigm shift to the social and human rights model of disability. The recently enacted Mental Health Act 2019 though progressive still falls short of streamlining the provision of community based mental health care to address the long standing practice of institutionalisation of PWMDs in mental health facilities and prisons. The social and environmental barriers manifested in negative attitudes, stigma and discrimination are characteristic of the populace. Institutionalisation, isolation and segregation of PWMDs in violation of Article 19 of the UNCRPD and other related articles is evidently persistent. To exacerbate the situation, Uganda has not yet conceived a plan to design an independent or community living strategy or policy for her citizens with mental disabilities. 2023-06-22T16:24:22Z 2023-06-22T16:24:22Z 2023 2023-06-22T16:23:37Z Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37961 eng application/pdf Department of Private Law Faculty of Law
spellingShingle Law
Atim, Patricia
Community based mental health care: a necessity for realising the right to independent living and community inclusion of persons with mental disabilities in Uganda
thesis_degree_str Doctoral
title Community based mental health care: a necessity for realising the right to independent living and community inclusion of persons with mental disabilities in Uganda
title_full Community based mental health care: a necessity for realising the right to independent living and community inclusion of persons with mental disabilities in Uganda
title_fullStr Community based mental health care: a necessity for realising the right to independent living and community inclusion of persons with mental disabilities in Uganda
title_full_unstemmed Community based mental health care: a necessity for realising the right to independent living and community inclusion of persons with mental disabilities in Uganda
title_short Community based mental health care: a necessity for realising the right to independent living and community inclusion of persons with mental disabilities in Uganda
title_sort community based mental health care a necessity for realising the right to independent living and community inclusion of persons with mental disabilities in uganda
topic Law
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37961
work_keys_str_mv AT atimpatricia communitybasedmentalhealthcareanecessityforrealisingtherighttoindependentlivingandcommunityinclusionofpersonswithmentaldisabilitiesinuganda