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AN ASSESSMENT OF COUNSELLING NEEDS OF PATIENTS WHO TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 AT LEVY MWANAWASA UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL

2023-01-16T10:04:14Z

Title: AN ASSESSMENT OF COUNSELLING NEEDS OF PATIENTS WHO TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 AT LEVY MWANAWASA UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL Authors: Sichalwe, Samuel Abstract: Background: Psychological counselling is a challenging task global society faces. This can be seen in a raise in mental related disorders. Despite counselling being an important intervention to help handle psychological concerns in most day-to-day activities, in some instances, it has not been holistically taken as a serious tool. A lot of mental-related problems like stress, and anxieties arose with Coronavirus 19 as the 6th pandemic. During the first and second waves of COVID-19, health workers’ uncertainties when disclosing positive results, and patients’ unpreparedness to receive bad news led to unprecedented reactions. These reactions were worsened by the change of counselling modalities as patients could receive results on phone, while others conducted counselling sessions in personal protective clothes due to fear of acquiring or transmitting the disease. Hence, uncertainties on the goal of achieving psychological autonomy for our COVID-19 patients. Methods: Qualitative case study was used and data was collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews from 11 COVID-19 survivors systematically sampled while 5 health workers were purposively chosen as key informants. This data on COVID-19 results disclosure, psychological experiences, preferred way of receiving bad news and coping mechanisms were analyzed using thematic analysis. The aim of the study was to access the counselling needs of patients who tested positive for COVID-19 at Levy Mwanawasa University Teaching Hospital from 2020 to 2021. Objective: Conceptually this paper evaluates the factors affecting counselling in COVID-19 patients at Levy Mwanawasa Medical University Hospital COVID-19 centre. Results: In this study environment, counselling practices on patients testing for COVID-19 were not encouraging. Overall, the participants had a poor perception of the way doctors were breaking bad news to the Clients and how this exponentially affected their mental health. There is a need seen for health workers to possess basic psychological counselling skills to handle emergency crisis as well as improve on referral system in mental care. These qualms are being mitigated through refresher basic training in counselling courses and observing 5 golden rules of COVID-19 Conclusion: The study showed the importance of a Doctor’s attention to standards of psychological practice when attending to Clients or disclosing their sensitive results. Similar Description: A dissertation submitted to the School of Postgraduate Studies in partial fulfillment for the award of Master’s Degree in Public Health.

PREVALENCE AND DETERMINANTS OF DEPRESSION, ANXIETY AND STRESS AMONG PRE-CLINICAL MEDICAL STUDENTS AT THE LUSAKA APEX MEDICAL UNIVERSITY: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

2023-01-16T10:04:52Z

Title: PREVALENCE AND DETERMINANTS OF DEPRESSION, ANXIETY AND STRESS AMONG PRE-CLINICAL MEDICAL STUDENTS AT THE LUSAKA APEX MEDICAL UNIVERSITY: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY Authors: Bwalya, Katebe Abstract: Background Globally, mental health problems are the main obstacle to academic success as they can affect students' motivation, focus and social interactions, critical factors for student success. The most Prevalent Mental Disorders among University Students are Depression, Anxiety and Stress. Sources of mental illness include demographic, social, behavioral, and academic factors. Determining the prevalence and determinants of depression, anxiety and stress will encourage the development of informed strategies and policy making to promote mental health and prevent occurrences of mental disorders in higher educational institutions in Zambia Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted with medical students attending a University in Zambia. Participants completed a self-administered online questionnaire consisting of the socio-demographic characteristics of students and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), on which they responded by rating the extent to which they had experienced each symptom over the last week, ranging from 0 (did not apply to me at all) to 3 (applied to me very much, or most of the time). The multivariate logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with depression anxiety and stress Results A total of 295 University students participated in the study with a mean age of 23(22-24) IQR. The prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress were 66.10%, 74.86% and 45.35%, respectively. Severe or extremely severe depression, anxiety and stress were noted among 85 (29%), 132 (45%) and 53 (18%) students, respectively. Depression, Anxiety and stress were significantly more frequent among female students (113(71.97%); p=0.023, 121(77.07%); p=0.034 and 85(58.62%); p<0.001, respectively). Being in 4th year was statistically associated high levels of anxiety (154(68.75%); p=0.035) while being single or living at a boarding house were associated with a higher score of stress (117(46.61%); p = 0.041 and 102(48.80%); p=0.034). Conclusions A substantial proportion of the students are suffering from depression, stress and particularly from anxiety. The findings may be useful for informed policy making and establishment of preventive measures and interventions for students to learn how to cope with these conditions positively and to improve the mental health of students with a view to enhancing their educational outcomes. Description: Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of a degree of Masters in Public Health of the Lusaka Apex Medical University, Zambia.