Pillay Anthony L, Mkhonza Zama K
J Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2004 Oct;16(2):87-92. doi: 10.2989/17280580409486575.
Objective - The data collection began as a clinical audit for service monitoring and development purposes. However, what emerged showed major areas of deficit in society's response to children and their needs. Method - Clinical records were retrospectively examined for attenders at a child mental health outpatient facility in Pietermaritzburg over a one-year period. Demographic and clinical variables were recorded and analysed, using descriptive statistics. Results - Of the 143 attenders, 40.8% of the girls had recent histories of sexual abuse, of whom family or friends abused 82.6%. Children from fractured families constituted 72% of the attenders. Almost 70% of the children spoke isiZulu as a first language, although extremely few psychologists and psychiatrists speak isiZulu. Almost one-third of the children traveled distances up to 200km to access this mental health resource. Conclusions - Clearly sexual abuse and the breakdown of family life appear to be significantly implicated in child mental health referrals in the region, pointing to the dire need for preventive efforts. The mental health system must ensure that practitioners are able to communicate with their patients in their home languages to ensure high quality care. It is essential that mental health services be widened beyond the metropolitan areas, in order to improve access by rural communities.
目的——数据收集最初是作为一项用于服务监测和发展目的的临床审计开展的。然而，所呈现的情况显示出社会对儿童及其需求的回应存在重大缺陷领域。方法——回顾性检查了彼得马里茨堡一家儿童心理健康门诊机构为期一年的就诊者临床记录。记录并分析了人口统计学和临床变量，采用描述性统计方法。结果——在143名就诊者中，40.8%的女孩近期有性虐待史，其中82.6%是被家人或朋友虐待。来自破裂家庭的儿童占就诊者的72%。近70%的儿童以祖鲁语作为第一语言，尽管极少有心理学家和精神科医生会说祖鲁语。近三分之一的儿童要跋涉多达200公里才能获得这一心理健康资源。结论——显然，性虐待和家庭生活破裂似乎与该地区儿童心理健康转诊有重大关联，这表明迫切需要开展预防工作。心理健康系统必须确保从业者能够用患者的母语与他们交流，以确保高质量护理。至关重要的是，心理健康服务必须扩大到大城市地区以外，以便改善农村社区获得服务的机会。
