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academies
Nov 12-13, 2018 | Paris, France
Joint Event
Nutraceuticals and Food Sciences
International Conference on 27th International Conference on
Nursing and Healthcare &
Journal of Food science and Nutrition | Volume 1
The aim of the study was to investigate the perceptions
that psychiatric workers in Government Hospitals in
Jamaica have concerning deinstitutionalized patient care for
the mentally ill. A qualitative descriptive design was used.
Participants were selected through convenience sampling
and comprised twenty-two psychiatric workers who at the
time were working with psychiatric patients in two public
hospitals. Ethical approval was obtained. Data were collected
through three focus group discussions guided by five broad
questions. The results revealed that the psychiatric workers
had a good knowledge of deinstitutionalization. Secondly,
participant narratives showed that stigma, as well as abuse
of the mentally ill in their communities was of grave concern.
Thirdly, they highlighted issues of cost, accessibility and
availability of medications as being problematic. Fourthly, in
some cases they received little or no assistance from family
members, communities and the police. It is imperative
that an aggressive campaign be mounted to sensitize
communities about the benefits of deinstitutionalization and
highlight the associated stigma of the mentally ill patients.
Simultaneously the support services must be improved and
deinstitutionalized mental health care must be rigorously
pursued.
Speaker Biography
Andrea Pusey Murray is a Senior Lecturer and Program Director for Undergraduate
Nursing Program at the Caribbean School of Nursing, University of Technology,
Jamaica (Papine Campus). She has published peer reviewed articles in journals
such as International Journal of Nursing Science, Journal of Biomedical Science and
Engineering and Mental Health in Family Medicine. She has authored a book chapter
entitled, “Attendance and performance of undergraduate students in two nursing
courses in a University in Jamaica”, in Advancing Education in the Caribbean and Africa
and co-authored “Cultural Voices and Human Rights: Case Exemplars” in the Routledge
Handbook of Global Mental Health Nursing. Currently, she serves on the Curriculum
and Development Committee - Nursing Council of Jamaica. She holds membership with
the Nurses Association of Jamaica and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of
Nursing - Theta theta Chapter. Her research interests’ focus on mental health, public
health sexually transmitted infections and education.
e:
Andrea Pusey-Murray
Hermi Hewitt
University of Technology, Jamaica
Psychiatric workers’ perception of deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill in
government hospitals in Jamaica