The vision of ZTA is to enable better care for mental health patients in Zambia. They seek to achieve this through designing and delivering a practice-based training art course namely the 'ZTA course'. This course is delivered to mental health professionals and students in Zambia in alignment with global and national policy and expressed local needs.
Activities include:
- Creating and fostering good partnership relationships with Zambian health, training, and service-user organisations
- Using MEL to inform a bottom up and participatory approach to shape the course
- Conducting research on the effectiveness of the ZTA course – in collaboration with Zambian partners
- Disseminating findings in Zambia and the UK
- Organising publicity (for example a ZTA blog) and fund raising activities to share and gain support for the work
- Building the capacity of ZTA, recruiting art therapists in Scotland
- Building knowledge and skills of ZTA trustees through training and forums
We have been delivering this brief practice-based training through the ZTA course since 2012. And since 2014 the course has been delivered at the major training institutions for mental health professionals in Lusaka. The training has been closely evaluated and the results collated. In 2014 100% of trainees at Chainama Hospital noted that the ZTA course increased their skills relevant to their professional practice such as assisting diagnosis, treatment planning, and improving well-being and recovery.
Participants further noted changed attitudes resulting in the reduction of stigma against mentally ill people. This increased compassion and care. 52% of the participants noted that patients valued the time spent with them which enabled the patients to be ‘heard’. 63% noted ‘Improvements in communication and patient/staff relationship building’.
The 2015 data from trainees during and post training is being analysed with a review for publication. We are now at the stage of piloting a Training of Trainers programme and establishing the feasibility of rolling out the training to other provinces.
East Broomhill
West Lothian
EH558RE
UK
- Strategic Centre for Metrics and Evaluations (SCHEME) at 63 Nationalist Rd with PO Box 50650, Ridgeway in Lusaka
- Mental Health Department, Ministry of Health, Ndeke House, Lusaka
- Department of Psychiatry, University Of Zambia,University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka
- Chainama Hills Hospital, Lusaka
- Chainama College of Health Sciences, Lusaka
- Mental Health Users Network of Zambia (MHUNZA)
- Zambian Federation of Disability - ZAFOD
Multi Agency International Training (MAITS) available at info@maits.org.uk.
