Faculty of Science

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12504/2

Browse

Browsing Faculty of Science by Subject "2020"

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Covid – 19 pandemic effects on the mental healthcare service delivery at Butabika National Referral hospital, Uganda
    (Kyambogo University(Unpublished work), 2025-05) Otai, James
    A global catastrophe impacting many areas of society, including health, social welfare, and the environment, was brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The psychiatric and mental health care systems, which were already overburdened for years, saw an unprecedented amount of strain as a result of the health catastrophe that preceded this epidemic. This study was aimed at finding the COVID – 19 pandemic effects on the mental healthcare service delivery at Butabika National Referral Hospital. A cross-sectional design with both quantitative and qualitative approaches was used to collect information at the health facility. A total of 198 hospital staff participated in the study. Pre –tested structured questionnaires, interview guides were used to collect information from the hospital staff that consented to take part voluntarily in the study while document review was used to collect patients’ information on trends of mental health service utilisation. The findings of the study showed that there was a decrease in the number of appointments for the mental health services and an increase of patients on treatment during the pandemic. The prevalence of psychometric disorders at the facility was moderate to high stress 91.9%, minimal anxiety 65.2% ad likely depression 63.8%. The doctors and clinicians had higher stress levels than the other staff. There was a positive significant relationship between quality of life and service delivery (r =0.576**, p < 0.01). Fear of contracting COVID-19 at health facilities, transportation difficulties, shortage of human resource and restricted movement were the major challenges that hindered services delivery during the pandemic. There is need for government to train health workers on remote technologies, enhance mental health support, combat misinformation, and boost funding to strengthen resilience and access to care during and after crises.