Browsing by Author "Tumwakire, Emily"

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    A qualitative exploration of Ugandan mental health care workers’ perspectives and experiences on sexual and reproductive health of people living with mental illness in Uganda
    (BMC Public Health, 2022) Tumwakire, Emily; Arnd, Hofmeister; Gavamukulya, Yahaya
    People with Mental Illness experience vast sexual and reproductive health challenges due to the affected mental health. Globally, prevalence of mental illness is on the rise with subsequent increase in the number of people with sexual and reproductive challenges warranting urgent public health intervention. However, information on the perceptions and experiences of mental health workers, the key health care providers for this population is generally lacking yet it’s essential for formulation of appropriate policies and public health interventions. Aim: To explore Ugandan mental health care worker’s perspectives and experiences on the sexual and reproductive health of people living with mental illness in Uganda in order to generate recommendations to the ministry of health on how it can be improved. Materials and methods: Qualitative study design was employed with utilization of phone call semi-structured in-depth interviews to collect data from 14 mental health workers from Uganda’s National mental referral hospital, Butabika. Purposive sampling and convenience recruitment was done and the collected data was analyzed using Thematic content analysis. Results: Four themes were generated which included people with Mental illness having normal sexual needs, mental illness effect on sexuality and relationships, practices for safeguarding sexuality of people with mental illness and the barriers encountered in the provision of sexual and reproductive health services at a mental hospital. Conclusion: People with mental illness experience a multitude of sexual and reproductive health challenges that need public health interventions. However, the integration of sexual and reproductive health services in a mental hospital are not yet successful making people with mental illness to remain with unaddressed health challenges. Policies should therefore be developed and implemented to ensure successful integration of sexual and reproductive health at all mental health service care provision points.
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    Sexual and reproductive health knowledge and practices among youth with and without mental illness in Uganda: a comparative study
    (Tropical Medicine and Health, 2022) Tumwakire, Emily; Ashaba, Scholastic; Mubangizi, Vincent; Gavamukulya, Yahaya
    Sexual and reproductive health challenges among youth in low-income countries have persistently remained a public health challenge. In addition to these challenges, approximately 25% of youth experience a mental health illness, a situation anticipated to steeply increase especially in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is still a scarcity of knowledge on the sexual and reproductive health of youth with mental illness in comparison to youth without mental illness in low-income countries. In this paper, the objective was to compare the sexual and reproductive health knowledge and practices among youth with mental illness and without mental illness at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH), South Western Uganda. Methods: Using a cross-sectional comparative study design, 104 youth with mental illness and 101 youth without mental illness were recruited as they sought medical health care services at MRRH. Structured interviews were conducted and they covered sexual and reproductive health knowledge and sexual practices. Results: 205 youth were interviewed and of these 53 males and 51 females had mental illness while 49 males and 52 females did not have a mental illness. More youth without mental illness (61.7%) had more knowledge of sexual and reproductive health compared to youth with mental illness (38.3%) with a prevalence odds ratio of 0.29 (CI 0.16–0.52) and p value of 0.001. All youth were knowledgeable about contraceptive methods. Youth with MI engaged more in risky sexual practices though the difference wasn’t statistically significant. Conclusions: Youth generally have low sexual and reproductive health knowledge and this was found to be significantly lower in youth with mental illness compared to those without mental illness and they generally tend to engage in risky sexual behavior. It is recommended to incorporate SRH services among the mainstream general youth health care and mental health care services is critical to reducing sexual and reproductive health challenges among youth.