Community perceptions of mental illness in rural Uganda: An analysis of existing challenges facing the Bwindi Mental Health Programme

Objectives: To assess community perceptions of mental illness in the Bwindi Community Hospital (BCH) catchment area: to recognise beliefs about the causes and the treatments for mental illness. To provide community data to staff at BCH as they work to develop more effective community mental health programmes.Background: A shortage of mental health providers in Uganda has prompted research into community-based task-sharing models for the provision of mental health services in underserved communities.Methods: Six focus group discussions, with a total of 54 community members (50% male, n = 27; mean age + s.d. [39.9 + 10.9 years]) from the BCH catchment area, were conducted to assess community member and stakeholder perceptions of mental illness and belief in the feasibility of community-based programming. Qualitative study of data through thematic analysis was conducted to assess the presence of commonly occurring perceptions.Results: Qualitative thematic analysis revealed two major themes: (1) belief that any given patient’s metal illness results from either an intrinsic or an extrinsic cause and (2) belief in a need to determine treatment of mental illness based on the believed cause.Conclusion: As BCH designs community-based mental health services, our findings provide support for the need for further education of community members and training of community health workers to address and integrate the above-stated beliefs regarding mental illness.