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High levels of stigma towards substance use and depression amongst non-specialist health workers in South Africa
As mental health-related stigma is a significant barrier to seeking and receiving healthcare, stigma amongst non-specialist health workers (NSHWs) towards patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and substance use disorder (SUD) could negatively affect mental health service provision. This stud...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health
2023
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| _version_ | 1867613210649034752 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Goncalves, Richard |
| author2 | Sibeko, Ntokozo |
| author_browse | Goncalves, Richard Sibeko, Ntokozo |
| author_facet | Sibeko, Ntokozo Goncalves, Richard |
| author_sort | Goncalves, Richard |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | As mental health-related stigma is a significant barrier to seeking and receiving healthcare, stigma amongst non-specialist health workers (NSHWs) towards patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and substance use disorder (SUD) could negatively affect mental health service provision. This study aimed to explore (1) the level of stigma towards MDD and SUD among NSHWs employed in primary care settings in South Africa, (2) the extent to which socio-demographic factors might be associated with stigma levels amongst these NSHWs, and (3) NSHWs' interest in receiving training for MDD or SUD. Overall, 81 NSHWs completed a culturally modified version of the Social Distance Scale (SDS) that assessed stigma towards a hypothetical patient with MDD and a hypothetical patient with SUD; higher cumulative SDS scores represented greater stigma. With a possible range of 6-24, we found a mean SDS score of 9.0 (SD=3.7) for MDD and 11.7 (SD=4.4) for SUD. Results show elevated levels of stigma towards both hypothetical patients, with significantly higher mean SDS scores for SUD compared to MDD (p <0.001). No socio-demographic variables were significantly associated with MDD or SUD stigma levels. When asked to rate their interest, more NSHWs were “very interested” in receiving training for MDD (90.0%) than for SUD (80.8%); this difference was statistically significant (p=0.027). High levels of self-reported stigma, coupled with a desire for further training, suggest that it would be prudent to incorporate stigma reduction measures into future MDD and SUD training programmes for NSHWs. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/37996 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:31.718Z |
| 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 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health |
| publisherStr | Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/37996 High levels of stigma towards substance use and depression amongst non-specialist health workers in South Africa Goncalves, Richard Sibeko, Ntokozo Myers Bronwyn Psychiatry As mental health-related stigma is a significant barrier to seeking and receiving healthcare, stigma amongst non-specialist health workers (NSHWs) towards patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and substance use disorder (SUD) could negatively affect mental health service provision. This study aimed to explore (1) the level of stigma towards MDD and SUD among NSHWs employed in primary care settings in South Africa, (2) the extent to which socio-demographic factors might be associated with stigma levels amongst these NSHWs, and (3) NSHWs' interest in receiving training for MDD or SUD. Overall, 81 NSHWs completed a culturally modified version of the Social Distance Scale (SDS) that assessed stigma towards a hypothetical patient with MDD and a hypothetical patient with SUD; higher cumulative SDS scores represented greater stigma. With a possible range of 6-24, we found a mean SDS score of 9.0 (SD=3.7) for MDD and 11.7 (SD=4.4) for SUD. Results show elevated levels of stigma towards both hypothetical patients, with significantly higher mean SDS scores for SUD compared to MDD (p <0.001). No socio-demographic variables were significantly associated with MDD or SUD stigma levels. When asked to rate their interest, more NSHWs were “very interested” in receiving training for MDD (90.0%) than for SUD (80.8%); this difference was statistically significant (p=0.027). High levels of self-reported stigma, coupled with a desire for further training, suggest that it would be prudent to incorporate stigma reduction measures into future MDD and SUD training programmes for NSHWs. 2023-06-29T06:41:52Z 2023-06-29T06:41:52Z 2023 2023-06-29T06:39:54Z Thesis / Dissertation http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37996 eng application/pdf Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health Faculty of Health Sciences |
| spellingShingle | Psychiatry Goncalves, Richard High levels of stigma towards substance use and depression amongst non-specialist health workers in South Africa |
| title | High levels of stigma towards substance use and depression amongst non-specialist health workers in South Africa |
| title_full | High levels of stigma towards substance use and depression amongst non-specialist health workers in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | High levels of stigma towards substance use and depression amongst non-specialist health workers in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | High levels of stigma towards substance use and depression amongst non-specialist health workers in South Africa |
| title_short | High levels of stigma towards substance use and depression amongst non-specialist health workers in South Africa |
| title_sort | high levels of stigma towards substance use and depression amongst non specialist health workers in south africa |
| topic | Psychiatry |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37996 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT goncalvesrichard highlevelsofstigmatowardssubstanceuseanddepressionamongstnonspecialisthealthworkersinsouthafrica |