A Decolonized Framework for a Medical Treatment Team Approach to Mental Healthcare in the South African Context

Abstract

ABSTRACT Medical treatment teamwork is widely advocated as an approach for treating mentally ill patients because the diverse healthcare professionals constituting medical treatment teams all contribute specific expertise for patient care. Approximately 80 per cent of South Africans are influenced by sociocultural factors with reference to their mental health issues. Hence, a decolonial medical treatment team approach to mental healthcare could enable a medical treatment team to cater for important sociocultural aspects in mental healthcare. However, at present, there is no single model or theory that accommodates important aspects such as the medical treatment teamwork and sociocultural aspects that influence mental healthcare. A qualitative, multiple-case study was used for this study to investigate these issues. The conceptual framework was developed from literature and theories and thereafter empirically investigated at two sites, namely the South African Eastern Cape Hospitals of Cecilia Makiwane and Fort England, using three data collection methods that included face-to-face, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and official documents. Data were analyzed applying thematic analysis. The findings indicated that sociocultural considerations such as the patient’s culture and the role of their families in mental healthcare should be included in the healthcare process in order to facilitate decolonized effective mental healthcare in South Africa.