Community mental health service provision among discharged mental patients in selected informal settlements, Nairobi county, Kenya

Abstract

Integrating mental health into primary health care (PHC), a recommendation of the World Health Organization, involves diagnosis and treatment of people with mental illness alongside general health problems and provide comprehensive care to people with mental illness in the community. However, community mental health service provision in Kenya is largely still inadequate as most mental health care remain to be centrally located in mental hospitals among them national referral and County hospitals. The main objective of the study is to determine factors affecting community mental health service provision among discharged mental patients in selected informal settlements of Mathari and Kariobangi in Nairobi County, family and community participation in the promotion of mental health services. The study is a cross sectional descriptive study that will involve non-manipulation of variables in a natural setting and will involve questionnaires, Focus group discussions (FGP). In the study samples are sampled from the health workers i.e. about 20 mentalhealth workers, and patients attending outpatient clinic at Mathari and Kariobangi health centres of which 10% will be sampled, and the community leaders from informal settlements of Mathari Kariobangi. Data will be analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS), Kruskal Wallis statistical tests of significance will be used to test significance between the variables.