Dissertação de Mestrado, Política e Serviços de Saúde Mental, Universidade Nova de Lisboa

Background: The new era of Recovery oriented mental health practice is based on human rights and culminating by the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD, 2008) and WHO QualityRights ToolKit, 212. Objectives: This study was designed to address attitudes of staff and consumers toward human rights of persons with psychosocial and mental disabilities and their inclusion into community. Examining staff and consumers‘ attitudes will highlight deficits in the knowledge regarding the magnitude of this problem and will inform the intended raising of awareness and training in this area. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to participants who were 104 staff members (psychologist, psychiatric nurses, social workers and doctors) and 100 consumers at the three main psychiatric hospitals in Sudan. Included in the questionnaire was the Human Rights of persons with psychosocial disability attitude questionnaire (HRQ_6) which was designed by the researcher based on (CRPD) as well as Community Living Attitudes Scale Mental Retardation - Short Form (CLAS), demographic items (for example, age, gender, and marital status) and one question about recovery in mental health. Scores on the HRQ_6 and the 4 CLAS subscales (Empowerment, Similarity, Exclusion, and Sheltering) were reported, and analyses of variance were performed to identify factors associated with each subscale score. The consumers‘ scores were compared with staff‘s scores. The HRQ_6 scores were correlated with the 4 CLAS subscales. Results: Two hundred and four participants from staff and consumers across the three main psychiatric hospitals in Sudan. The participants‘ of both groups had negative attitudes towards human rights of persons with psychosocial and mental disabilities. Also the participants‘ attitude scores favored Empowerment and Similarity over Exclusion and Sheltering. Staff and consumers; Men and women; and doctors and other professional groups; responded differently. Previous training on human rights had no impact on the attitude of the staff. There was correlation between the HRQ_6 and the 4 CLAS subscales. The research provided a much-needed window on the process of training and raising awareness with regard to human rights of persons with psychosocial and mental disabilities and their inclusion in to the community. Conclusion: Staff and consumers hold attitudes toward human rights of persons with psychosocial and mental disabilities that were inconsistent with the recovery oriented mental health practice. More researches are needed to uncover how attitudes towards human rights develop in our community, as well as how training on human rights can influence attitudes.