Aim: This book attempts to examine the critical role that
physical health infrastructure and associated facilities play in the delivery
of effective integrated primary health care services to mental patients in
Zambia. The working definition for ‘physical infrastructure’ in the entire book
relates to wider capacities that facilitate effective operations of a health
facility in the form of hospital buildings, bed spaces, medical equipment, and
professional healthcare personnel, among other related elements.
Background: The interrogation of the political commitment
and unavailability of robust infrastructure development, in the context of
Zambia’s integrated health care system, forms the nucleus of the argument in
this discourse.
Methodology: The arguments presented here are derived from
both quantitative and qualitative data pulled from various sources to map out
the debate around the impact of inadequate infrastructure facilities on mental
health patients in Zambia’s health system.
Findings: Inadequate health infrastructure facilities have
had a negative impact on the well-being of mental health patients and other
sectors of the Zambian society. Without undermining the existing government’s
efforts to establish the facilities around the country, Zambia has only one and
yet ill-resourced main hospital, offering mental health services. This hospital
has been overwhelmed by a combination of insufficient infrastructure, as
understood in holistic terms, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The
argument is that a system that does not include these elements, does not
represent the demographics of the country and their variegated social problems.
If mental patients do not adequately and freely access the services that they
deserve, they are gripped with a sense of marginalization by the Ministry of
Health and its cooperating partners.
Unique Contributions to Theory, Practice, and Policy: For
the health reforms to be effective in Zambia, it is recommended that a
conceptual integrated health system be anchored on the universal allocation of
adequate resources and operationalization of mental health policies. This will
enable us to genuinely connect with social determinants of mental health issues
within communities. Also, the involvement of non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) in providing an interface between communities and governments should be
supported by organizational or multi-institution capacity and coordination. A
systems theory has informed the framework under which this book systematically
advocates for a robust infrastructure development programme for mental health
care services.
Author (s) Details
Kapumpe Chilufya
Psychology Association of Zambia, Zambia.
Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/mono/978-93-48119-18-6
No comments:
Post a Comment