Uganda Blog 1 – October 2023

Pasco, Beth, Lizzie and I started the day at the Lira Referral Hospital attending a Hospital Parliament meeting. Pasco presented the iAIMS project to senior heads of departments and directors. His presentation raises awareness of the project, so the clinical leaders can support the on-going project. The room was very supportive of the project and at the end Pasco presented two plungers for antibiotic testing to the Lira Referral hospital. The meeting ended with a mid-morning snack of a banana, a boiled egg and a doughnut – this was an unexpected, yet delicious combo!

I then went to the Lira University Hospital and met with a psychologist who I connected with before arrival. After coming to Uganda last year, I recognised that mental health is not commonly spoken about and is not part of the student curriculum. When I spoke to students about mental health, they were engaged, spoke about their own experiences and contacted me following the session. We discussed how students provide direct care for families at vulnerable times in their lives- students could be the key!

Coming back this year, my aim was to make relationships to plan future change, but we know that there needs to be small steps to make big changes. We talked about issues and acknowledged that there are minimal psychiatrists and psychologists in the local region, so accessing support for someone struggling could be faced with many barriers. People could struggle to talk about how they are feeling, want to avoid stigma within the community and if they do talk about their struggles, a plan of care could be challenging with a lack of psychologists and issues accessing medication (is it available, is it affordable). While I am here, I have arranged teaching sessions with students, I will continue to make relationships with the mental health team and attend public health meetings to agree with how we can work together in the future. When I spoke about mental health in the UK and said “I am concerned about what the future may hold if we cannot address the mental health concerns presenting in our younger generation”.

The team has the same concerns and reminded me that mental health, regardless of background, ethnicity, socioeconomic group or where you live – affects everyone.
(Emily, Perinatal Mental Health Midwife)