- Title
- Rehabilitation of mental health care users in the Eastern Cape
- Creator
- Sokhela, N E
- Subject
- Mental health services Mental illiness – South Africa Caregivers – Mental health
- Date Issued
- 2014
- Date
- 2014
- Type
- text
- Type
- Lectures
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/11260/1122
- Identifier
- vital:30608
- Description
- Mental Health was controlled by the Mental Health Act which was modified from time to time. The objective of the Act was to treat, care and control. Emphasis was more in control and the protection of the public “Control” was embedded into practices used which included seclusion in single rooms to control unacceptable behaviour, use of mechanical restraints and straight jackets for destructive and violent episodes as well as large doses of tranquilizers. Large wards were used to accommodate patients. Locked doors prevented patients from visiting other wards. Carers were supplied with whistles and keys to enable them to call for help if there was violence. There were very few trained “mental nurses” supported by a high percentage of untrained carers who acted as rehabilitation staff within the wards and environment training patients on maintenance of personal hygiene, cleaning the wards, dishing food and washing dishes after meals. Non-violent patients worked at the laundry to sort dirty linen and pack clean linen. All hospitals have a farm in which vegetables were produced for the hospitals by patients and employees for feeding patients and also for sale to the open market. This enabled some patients to acquire different skills although there was no policy on rehabilitation. Mental health care was provided in mental hospitals divided according to racial groups, all of them closer to cities. Whites had rehabilitation and community services not open to other races. Family contact of most black patients was not frequent and at times not possible because these hospitals were from rural communities from where patients lived. Long-term patients lost contact with their relatives and developed institutionalisation. The lives of most patients were centered around the routine domestic work they performed. Recreation was in the form of walks within the hospital premises, sport by a few patients and staff, music and dance for those whose orientation had improved.
- Format
- Format
- 34 leaves
- Publisher
- Water Sisulu University
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Inaugural Lectures
- Rights
- Sokhela, N E
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WSU Inaugural Lectures
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Adobe Acrobat PDF | 919 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |