Browsing by Person "Hill, Lesley"

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Enhancing mental health care through ‘therapeutic art' in Zambia
(African Journals Online, 2020-03-25) Hill, Lesley; Lyambai, K.; Sheikh, W. A.
Background: Mental health care needs a range of inputs to maximise opportunities for effective outcomes. In Zambia, like many developing countries, mental health care is largely limited to pharmacological approaches. In efforts to address this gap a Scottish NGO 'Zambia Therapeutic Art' (ZTA) developed and implemented 'The Zambia Therapeutic Art Course' for Mental Health Professionals (The ZTA Course, MHPs). Objective: To assess the effectiveness and sustainability of The ZTA Course. Methods: A mixed methods approach was used: Evaluation questionnaires were administered to 26 MHPs on completion of the course in Lusaka and Livingstone; of these, 12 were interviewed 6 months post-course. Data was analysed thematically. Results: All 26 MHP trainees, who completed questionnaires, reported an increase in useful skills wi th 63% reporting improvements in communication and relationship building with patients during the experiential training. All 12 MHPs trainees interviewed 6 months post-course had used Therapeutic Art (TA) skills in their work; 75 % clearly demonstrated their capacity to understand and implement the practice and felt the training was sufficient to do this. The applicability of the course to other health settings and special education was widely noted. Perceived challenges going forward included lack of resources and support systems. Conclusion: The ZTA Course has much potential to improve mental health care in Zambia by addressing the current gap in provision of psychosocial approaches. Increasing patients' ability to communicate with MHPs through using art enabled better therapeutic relationships; improving MHPs understanding of their patients and their difficulties and supporting patients' empowerment and recovery.
Who cares about Mr Mubanga? [Blog Post]
(Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh., 2015-02-23) Hill, Lesley
The ‘Zambia Therapeutic Art’ Course: An innovative approach to increase the psychological skills of Zambian mental health professionals
(ZNPHI, 2018-03-03) Hill, Lesley; Pearce, J.; Paul, R.; Ncheka, J. M.; Chiluku, E.
There is currently a skills gap in psychological approaches for mental health care in Zambia. An NGO, ‘Zambia Therapeutic Art’ (ZTA) provides an opportunity to begin to address this through its Therapeutic Art training course. A practice-based course was developed using a ‘bottom-up’ approach. This was delivered in key government mental health services and training institutions and evaluated by trainees in 2015 and 2017. Results showed skills were rapidly acquired by trainees, enabling enhanced professional- patient communications. Trainees reported that using the skills resulted in both better diagnosis and treatment and their attitude to patients. Preliminary findings suggest value in the provision of the ZTA course for mental health professionals, enhancing care and giving patients a voice. A training of trainers programme should be piloted to enable roll out of the course and its sustainability in Zambian Mental Health domains.