Knowledge, Beliefs and Attitudes of Health Care Providers towards the Mentally Ill in Delta State, Nigeria

This study aimed at chronicling the socio-cultural impediments to the favourable dispositional postures of health care providers despite their huge knowledge of the illness towards the mentally sick. 483 respondents with varied demographic characteristics participated. The multi-stage cluster technique was used to select these respondents amongst the health workers in Delta State government owned health institutions. With the aid of a structured questionnaire data was generated that was analyzed using percentages and Chi-square statistic. The findings show that despite the impressive medical knowledge of the illness by health workers, they still harbour deeply rooted cultural beliefs and traditional social acts to dislike the mentally sick. Consequently, robust enlightenment campaigns and workshops are recommended.