This qualitative study explores the experiences of adult mental health service
users as well as their families upon discharge of service users, to their families in
the Durban area, from Ekuhlengeni Care Centre (ECC) during May 1999 to
December 2001. In so doing, the aim was to ascertain the nature of mental
health service users' adjustment to living in the community, their impact on the
home environment, to identify gaps in community care and to provide
suggestions on resolving these gaps.
The study was guided by a qualitative research paradigm and utilized an
exploratory descriptive research design. Availability sampling was used.
Unstructured face-to-face, in-depth interviews were conducted with four mental
health service users (MHSUs) and six family members.
The results of the study reveal the many dilemmas that both MHSUs and their
relatives experience because of the lack of support and services available in the
community. There is overwhelming evidence to suggest that the environment is ill
suited at all levels to meeting the needs of MHSUs and their relatives. This
study examines the challenges experienced by MHSUs and their relatives and
makes recommendations for practice and policy that can contribute to improved
service delivery. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/2302 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Reddhi, Amravathy. |
| Contributors | Simpson, Barbara. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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