A psychiatric case management approach to facilitate the mental health of women that suffer from depression

• Main Author: Liebenberg, Tersia
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Depression in women; Women mental health; Psychiatric nursing; Mental depression treatment; Mental health services
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/4197

D.Cur. === In South Africa, mood disorders, specifically depression, accounts for the most psychiatric related hospital admissions. The total cost (overt and hidden) of mood disorders that result from lost productivity, can be estimated at billions of rand per year. In addition to economic costs, depression can carry great personal costs because of the social stigma associated with the diagnosis and treatment of a 'mental illness'. This stigma likely plays a big role in women' reluctance to seek, accept and adhere to treatment. The potential savings to be derived from the appropriate treatment of women suffering from depression are socially and economically significant. The focus in this thesis has been on women suffering from depression as it is estimated that at least twenty five percent of women will suffer from a major depressive episode in their life. Based on the problem statement that was included in this thesis, the researcher asked the following questions: 'What is the phenomena that constitutes the restoration process of women suffering from depression? Which processes contribute to the restoration process of women suffering from depression and facilitate these women's quest for mental health as an integral part of wholeness? How can an approach to provide quality care to women suffering from depression be described?" The primary purpose of this thesis was thus to explore and describe the processes contributing to the restoration process of women suffering from depression, in order to develop a mental health nursing approach that will provide quality care to women suffering from depression in their continuous quest for mental health. The psychiatric nurse specialist then developed and described guidelines to operationalise the approach that contributes to quality care of women suffering from depression in mental health nursing. The paradigmatic basis of this study was based on the Nursing for the Whole Person Theory (Oral Roberts University, Anna Vaughn School of Nursing, 1990:136-142) as used by the Rand Afrikaans University. This theory is based on a Judea-Christian philosophy.