Senior lecturer in the Department of Health Systems and Policy in the School of Public Health and Family Medicine in the College of Medicine at the University of Malawi.
Associate professor in the School of Public Health and Family Medicine in the College of Medicine at the University of Malawi.
Ethics Hum Res. 2021 Jul;43(4):11-19. doi: 10.1002/eahr.500095.
Interest in maternal mental health research is growing around the world. Maternal mental health research studies in Malawi have, for instance, sought to determine and establish the incidence and prevalence of depression and anxiety in pregnant people and the factors that contribute to experiences of these states. This article reports stakeholder perspectives on potential community concerns with biopsychosocial mental health research (which might include collecting blood samples) in Malawi. These perspectives were generated through a town hall event that featured five focus group discussions with various participants. In this article, we reflect on key themes from these discussions, demonstrating the endurance of long-standing concerns and practices around autonomy, consent, and the drawing of blood. We conclude by arguing that, while maternal mental health research conducted in Malawi could benefit Malawian women and children, consultation with community stakeholders is necessary to inform whether and how such research should be conducted.
全世界对孕产妇心理健康研究的兴趣日益浓厚。例如，马拉维的孕产妇心理健康研究旨在确定和评估孕妇中抑郁和焦虑的发生率和流行率，以及导致这些状况的因素。本文报告了利益攸关方对在马拉维进行生物心理社会心理健康研究（可能包括采集血样）的潜在社区关注的看法。这些观点是通过一个市政厅活动产生的，该活动的特色是与各种参与者进行了五次焦点小组讨论。在本文中，我们反思了这些讨论中的关键主题，展示了围绕自主权、同意和采血的长期存在的问题和做法。最后，我们认为，虽然在马拉维进行的孕产妇心理健康研究可能使马拉维妇女和儿童受益，但有必要与社区利益攸关方进行协商，以确定是否以及如何进行此类研究。
