Quality of life and human rights conditions in a public psychiatric hospital in Cairo
International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare
ISSN: 2056-4902
Article publication date: 21 December 2015
Abstract
Purpose
There is no documented evidence on service users’ perceptions of quality of care and observance of human rights in mental health residential facilities in Egypt after the new mental health law passed in 2009. The purpose of this paper is to investigate El-Abbassia Mental Health Hospital in Cairo. Special attention is paid as to the variety of human rights violations which are experienced by the users and the context in which these violations occur.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional study was performed relying on 36 depth interviews with patients, 58 staff members and 15 family members, reviews of documents and observations by an independent assessment team consisting of the author, another psychiatrist, a nurse and a family member using the World Health Organization Quality Rights Tool Kit which uses the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as its framework.
Findings
The study reported empirical insights into how the steps taken by the hospital to address several of the themes drawn from the CRPD require either improvement or initiation to comply fully with the convention’s themes.
Research limitations/implications
Respondents may have failed to disclose their true experiences due to fear of punishment.
Practical implications
Users admitted to mental hospitals have often been forgotten, thus becoming victims of violence, neglect and other human rights violations.
Social implications
An opportunity to promote public awareness of the rights of patients.
Originality/value
The importance of this study came from being the first documented evidence on service users’ perceptions of quality of care and observance of human rights in mental health residential facilities in Egypt after the new mental health law passed in 2009.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to express his deepest gratitude and thanks to Dr Soumitra Pathare, his supervisor, ILS College for his kind help, and advice. Also, the author would like to express his sincere appreciation to Dr Tuncho Levav, for his wise guidance. The author is deeply indebted to Dr Natalie Drew, Dr Michelle Funk for their personal enthusiasm and kind support. The author thanks to the members of the assessment team for assisting him with interviews. The research would not have been possible to complete without the cooperation and of the patients who participated in this study and the administrative personnel who facilitated the sampling of patients.
Citation
Elnemais Fawzy, M. (2015), "Quality of life and human rights conditions in a public psychiatric hospital in Cairo", International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 199-217. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHRH-02-2015-0006
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited