Social Support,Quality of Life and Recovery from Mental Illness of Patients Re-Attending Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital

Abstract

Mental health is pivotal in the general well-being of a healthy society. It is thus pertinent to study this area of society so as generate information to manage and sustain a healthy society. This study was done to generate information such as that among people with mental illness in some areas of their lives, Social support, Quality of life and Recovery from mental illness. The objective of this quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational and partly descriptive study was to investigate the available Social support systems, Quality of life and how these variables affect Recovery among people with Mental illness (PWMI) readmitted in Butabika National referral mental Hospital. The data was analysed using SPSS, version 16.0, Chicago IL. Regressions were done to determine the effects of variables, social support, and quality of life on recovery of PWMI. Descriptive statistics were used to infer the respondents’ status in various areas of the study variable. The results revealed social support as a predictor of quality of life both of which found as predictors of recovery among PWMI. Social support had higher predictability level of Recovery than Quality of life among the respondents. The family system was the most available social support system for the respondents in the study and so much in agreement with the convoy theory of social support. Quality of life predominantly revealed a degree of independence and many within the study population had a source of income a factor that promotes independence not only in the general population but the study population inclusive. The study findings revealed that the respondents did not have poor social support and Quality of life. Therefore recovery failure seem tagged to other factors that need further investigations Qualitative or case studies focusing on the community that lives with patients after discharge, empowering, training the community service providers, family members on their role in the management of PWMI, The government, policy makers and other stakeholders’ (NGOs) role to increase advocacy for mental health programs are highly recommended. In conclusion, the major reasons for recovery failure among PWMI remain a puzzle unanswered. Social support and quality of life are not the cores for failure to recover as revealed in this study. There must be other reasons that are responsible for failure of recovery of study population that need more investigations so that this phenomenon is resolved.