The impact of social capital, demographic factors, and coping strategies on community adaptation in supporting people with severe mental illness.

Abstract

Background: People with severe mental illness have the ability to live a satisfactory and independent life with the help of the community. Their adaptation to life’s challenges is a dynamic process, and the community plays an important role. This research, therefore, aims to address the question of how social capital, demographic factors, and coping strategies affect the community’s ability to adapt to people with severe mental illness.Design and methods: The multi-stage random sampling was used to obtain data from 137 respondents from rural society using an analytic observational design and cross-sectional approach. In addition, the Somers’ D test was used to measure the effect of social capital, demographic factors, and coping strategies on community adaptation.Results: The results showed a significant effect of social capital, demographic factors, and the coping strategy of community adaptation (P<0.05). Based on empirical research, access to social capital is critical in fostering community adaptation through its social participation, network, trust, coping strategies, and cooperation.Conclusions: In conclusion, social capital, demographic factors, and coping strategies are significant factors in developing community adaptation of people with severe mental illness.Significance for public healthPeople with severe mental illness (PSMI) have difficulties in carrying out daily tasks, therefore, they tend to avoid social interaction. A strong sense of community provides opportunities for PSMI to learn new skills, thereby encouraging an independent life style. The ability of communities to understand the stress experienced by PSMI, enables them to tackle the constraints. This study answers the question associated with the social capital, demographic factors, and coping strategies of communities in coping with mental ill people.