Nurses And Community Health Workers'awareness And Practices Regarding Child And Adolescent Mental Health In Ekiti State, Nigeria
This study was designed to assess the levels of awareness and practises regarding Child and Adolescent Mental Healthcare (CAMH) among the Primary Healthcare Providers (PHP) in Ekiti State, Nigeria. A hospital based cross sectional study was conducted using a three stage sampling technique. A total of 371 (191 nurses and 180 community health workers) respondents were randomly selected from ten (10) primary health care centres in two local government areas selected for the study. The respondents' age ranged from 18 to 56 years (mean age 35.7 years) Information was collected using a selfadministered semi structured questionnaire. Results of data analyses indicated that about half of the primary healthcare workers have worked for a period of 1 5 years in primary health care centres. Most of the PHP said they first heard of CAMH from school, while about 32% of them claimed to first hear about CAMH from home. A high proportion (73.5% of the PHPs said they have limited confidence in themselves to recognize when a child or adolescent has a mental illness. The awareness of CAMH among the PHPs did not translate to actual full involvement in good practice regarding CAMH services, and the levels of practices are worse among the community health workers. Advocacy and training opportunities are needed to address the problem. Specifically, regular training programmes to address specific needs such as prompt referral and correct treatment for children and adolescents with mental health problems are recommended.