Department of History, 177373McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, 3688Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
Can J Psychiatry. 2023 Mar;68(3):200-207. doi: 10.1177/07067437221125305. Epub 2022 Sep 13.
The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of perceptions of mental illnesses (especially psychosis), help-seeking, barriers to help-seeking, and opportunities to facilitate help-seeking in the African Nova Scotian Community.
A qualitative interpretive narrative approach, using the focus group method, was employed to engage African Nova Scotians in discussions on their perceptions and beliefs about mental illnesses and help-seeking in their communities. Youth in Early Intervention services, their caregivers, youth in the community, their caregivers, community leaders, and health service providers, were recruited from four locations in the Halifax Regional Municipality. A total of 75 individuals (37 female, 38 male) participated in the study. Narrative emplotment was used to analyse data from focus groups.
Findings from focus groups were categorized based on four areas of discussion: (a) perceptions about psychosis and other mental illnesses among youth, caregivers, service providers and community leaders (b) beliefs about help-seeking among youth, caregivers, services providers and community leaders; (c) barriers and facilitators to seeking help for mental illnesses; and (d) the content and format of educational resources to educate and support youth, families and communities.
Stigma surrounding mental illnesses in the community, lack of knowledge of illness and available services, concerns regarding negative involvement with police, or dismissal of difficulties by health care providers represent significant barriers to help-seeking in this community. Additionally, barriers include a lack of trust in health care services and a dearth of African Nova Scotian service providers. Bolstering capacity of community organizations to support and educate individuals around illness as well as fostering collaboration between health services and community organizations could reduce barriers to care. Future research should focus on examining ways to engage African Nova Scotians in collaboration with existing community organizations.
本研究旨在深入了解非洲新斯科舍人社区对精神疾病（尤其是精神病）的看法、寻求帮助的意愿、寻求帮助的障碍以及促进寻求帮助的机会。
采用定性解释性叙事方法，使用焦点小组方法，让非洲新斯科舍人社区参与讨论他们对精神疾病和社区中寻求帮助的看法和信念。从哈利法克斯地区的四个地点招募了早期干预服务中的青年及其照顾者、社区中的青年及其照顾者、社区领袖和卫生服务提供者。共有 75 人（37 名女性，38 名男性）参与了这项研究。使用叙事情节分析方法分析焦点小组的数据。
根据四个讨论领域对焦点小组的结果进行分类：（a）青年、照顾者、服务提供者和社区领袖对精神病和其他精神疾病的看法；（b）青年、照顾者、服务提供者和社区领袖对寻求帮助的看法；（c）寻求精神疾病帮助的障碍和促进因素；（d）教育资源的内容和形式，以教育和支持青年、家庭和社区。
社区中对精神疾病的污名化、对疾病和可用服务的了解不足、对与警察负面接触的担忧，或医疗保健提供者对困难的轻视，这些都是该社区寻求帮助的重大障碍。此外，障碍还包括对医疗保健服务的信任不足和缺乏非洲新斯科舍人服务提供者。加强社区组织的能力，以支持和教育个人了解疾病，并促进卫生服务和社区组织之间的合作，可以减少护理障碍。未来的研究应侧重于研究如何让非洲新斯科舍人参与与现有社区组织的合作。
