RESEARCH ON MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES IS ESSENTIAL

Some few weeks ago, I was a delegate at the just ended East, Central, and Southern Africa College of Nursing (ECSACON) 15th Biennial Scientific Conference that was held at Kingdom of Eswatini. Several scholars presented on several sub-themes ranging from COVID-19, workplace violence and building sustainable nursing and midwifery workforce among others. The conference was worth every penny, however, there were not many research papers on mental health. This is not only a problem observed at the conference but a worldwide problem which I will reflect on today.

A commentary by Til Wykes and colleagues in the Journal of Mental Health paints a gloomy picture of the prevalence of mental illness which significantly contributes to global disease burden. They further assert that the COVID-19 pandemic has potentiated the mental illness burden and further puts into perspective the need for research. Why is research important in mental health care provision? Research clearly guides the policy direction that need to be adopted in addressing mental health issues. It is through research that experts are able to determine the effectiveness of policies and programs. Research findings from studies simply help shape up policies and guidelines that guide provision of mental health care! There is so much going on in the field of mental health. Young people are currently experiencing worst mental health challenges which clearly need to be explored. There is increased comorbidity of mental disorders and physical disorders hence the need to explore the links and causality factors. There are many interventions to treat mental disorders but have been validated in different contexts. Lastly, we have our won best practices as far as patient management is concerned; how will the world know of these success stories? The above scenarios all point to involvement in research by professionals in various cadres. As asserted by President Joe Biden, “there is a pressing need for research to validate what works and build a robust evidence base.” Mental health research must be prioritised in research on the basis of the foregoing. Research requires a multifaceted approach from the entire community. There is need for funding for research work, the need to capacitate professionals on research skills and also for our general community to be open to be research participants (although participation in research is selfdetermined).