Mental illness in Bwindi, Uganda: Understanding stakeholder perceptions of benefits and barriers to developing a community-based mental health programme.

Background: Mental illness has been increasingly recognised as a source of morbidity in low- and middle-income countries and significant treatment gaps exist worldwide. Studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of task sharing through community-based treatment models for addressing international mental health issues.

Aim: This paper aims to evaluate the perceptions of a wide range of mental health stakeholders in a Ugandan community regarding the benefits and barriers to developing a community-based mental health programme.

Community perceptions of mental illness in rural Uganda: An analysis of existing challenges facing the Bwindi Mental Health Programme.

Objectives: To assess community perceptions of mental illness in the Bwindi Community Hospital (BCH) catchment area: to recognise beliefs about the causes and the treatments for mental illness. To provide community data to staff at BCH as they work to develop more effective community mental health programmes.

Background: A shortage of mental health providers in Uganda has prompted research into community-based task-sharing models for the provision of mental health services in underserved communities.