Barriers regarding child psychiatric assessments by medical doctors in selected hospitals of the Vhembe District, Limpopo Province

Abstract

Children do suffer mental health problems and they can be assisted professionally. However, most of the children with mental illness are not treated accordingly. The purpose of the study was to investigate barriers regarding child psychiatric assessment by medical doctors in selected hospitals of the Vhembe district, Limpopo Province. The study employed a qualitative approach, with an explorative, descriptive and contextual design. The population of the study were medical doctors working in the outpatient departments within five selected general hospitals in the Vhembe District (Tshilidzini, Siloam, Donald Frazer, Elim and Malamulele), who were attending to children below the age of eighteen in outpatient department mental health clinics. In-depth individual interviews were used as an instrument to collect data, which was analysed following Tesch’s steps. Four major themes emerged after substantial data analysis, namely: Challenges related to medical doctors, Challenges related to parents/guardian, Challenges related to being a child and Insufficient support. The study recommended training of the child psychiatric specialists. Future studies could be done, focusing on the development of the guidelines to implement child psychiatric policies.