ABSTRACT
The literature on mental illness demonstrates poor knowledge of mental illness among
the general population and also indicates that people often have stigmatizing attitudes
towards mental illness.
A descriptive cross-sectional study and quantitative approaches were employed in data
collection and 67 respondents were involved both males and females who were selected
using simple random sampling method.
The results indicated that generally knowledge on mental illness was poor although
majority of the respondents (67%) knew the meaning of mental illness. 58.2% didn’t
know examples of mental disorders, 38.8% attributed mental illness to witchcraft and
40.3% would seek treatment from a traditional healer. Attitudes towards mentally ill
people were very poor as 55.2% agreed that they cannot associate with a mentally ill
person and 49.2% expressed fear for mentally ill people. Results about the care for
mentally ill indicated that 54% cannot take a mentally ill person to hospital but 48.4%
of these would instead take a mentally ill person to a traditional healer.
The recommendation is that basic mental health awareness programs should be
implemented for general public especially newly school going children and youth to
improve the knowledge and understanding and attitudes to reduce fear and negative
perceptions and attitudes in order to enhance positive patient experiences and improve
the care for mentally ill people.
Research, S. (2022). ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES TOWAEDS MENTAL ILLNESS AND CARE AMONG RESIDENT OF CELL B ISHAKAMUNIPALITY. Afribary. Retrieved from https://afribary.com/works/assessment-of-knowledge-and-attitudes-towaeds-mental-illness-and-care-among-resident-of-cell-b-ishakamunipality
Research, SSA "ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES TOWAEDS MENTAL ILLNESS AND CARE AMONG RESIDENT OF CELL B ISHAKAMUNIPALITY" Afribary. Afribary, 13 Aug. 2022, https://afribary.com/works/assessment-of-knowledge-and-attitudes-towaeds-mental-illness-and-care-among-resident-of-cell-b-ishakamunipality. Accessed 24 Nov. 2024.
Research, SSA . "ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES TOWAEDS MENTAL ILLNESS AND CARE AMONG RESIDENT OF CELL B ISHAKAMUNIPALITY". Afribary, Afribary, 13 Aug. 2022. Web. 24 Nov. 2024. < https://afribary.com/works/assessment-of-knowledge-and-attitudes-towaeds-mental-illness-and-care-among-resident-of-cell-b-ishakamunipality >.
Research, SSA . "ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES TOWAEDS MENTAL ILLNESS AND CARE AMONG RESIDENT OF CELL B ISHAKAMUNIPALITY" Afribary (2022). Accessed November 24, 2024. https://afribary.com/works/assessment-of-knowledge-and-attitudes-towaeds-mental-illness-and-care-among-resident-of-cell-b-ishakamunipality