ArticleThe East African health research journal2018
Perceptions of Mental Disorders and Help-Seeking Behaviour for Mental Health Care Within the Maasai Community of Northern Tanzania: An Exploratory Qualitative Study.
Article in The East African health research journal, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Structural and health system determinants of mental health in Tanzania: mapping policy recommendations to the WHO comprehensive mental health action plan 2013-2030.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Assessment of mental health literacy among non-medical undergraduate students of Makerere University, Uganda.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Beliefs, referrals, and mental healthcare pathways in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Patterns and determinants of formal healthcare utilisation among individuals with and without proxy-identified mental health need in Tanzania: A cross-sectional analysis of the National Panel Survey.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- Neurology and headache medicine in Malawi: territory, education, and the path to strengthening primary care in sub-Saharan Africa.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Review
- "I think there is a certain worm that disturbs the head": Community perspectives and care pathways for psychosis in Malawi.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- Conceptualizing maternal mental health in rural Ghana: a realist qualitative analysis.Health policy and planning · 2025Article
- Community knowledge and attitude towards mental illness and its associated factors in Dodoma urban central Tanzania: A cross-sectional study.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Barriers and facilitators to integrating the friendship bench into non-communicable disease care in Malawi: A qualitative study.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Perspective on clinical high-risk for psychosis in Africa.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Factors Influencing Formal Mental Treatment - Seeking Behaviour among Caretakers of Mentally Ill Patients in Zanzibar.The East African health research journal · 2022Article
- Portrayals of mental illness, treatment, and relapse and their effects on the stigma of mental illness: Population-based, randomized survey experiment in rural Uganda.PLoS medicine · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundMental disorders are rapidly becoming more prevalent worldwide and are estimated to contribute up to 15% of the global burden of disease by 2020. In Africa, the help-seeking behaviour for mental health care is complex and is hindered by misconceptions and negative attitudes towards mental disorders. This study aimed to explore perceptions of mental disorders and help-seeking behaviour for mental health care within the Maasai community in northern Tanzania.
methodsThis qualitative study enrolled a purposive sample of 41 participants from a Maasai community in Arusha Region, northern Tanzania. Participants included modern health-care providers, religious leaders, traditional practitioners, local government leaders, local Maasai leaders, and workers from nongovernmental organisations dealing with mental health. Local interviewers used interview guides to conduct in-depth interviews and focus group discussions in the local language, Kiswahili. The interviews were completed between April and May 2013. We used content analysis to analyse the qualitative data.
resultsStudy participants attributed mental disorders to supernatural causes, such as curses, witchcraft, demons, and God's will. A few participants also mentioned biological causes and risk behaviours, including perinatal insults, head injuries, and drug abuse. Furthermore, we found that the Maasai community seeks mental health care in a sequential and simultaneous manner from 3 sectors, namely, professional health-care providers, traditional healers, and religious leaders. Traditional healers and religious leaders were preferred over professional health-care providers for the treatment of mental disorders.
conclusionThe Maasai have pluralistic help-seeking behaviour for mental health disorders. Integrating traditional healers in the modern health-care system may be beneficial to addressing mental health issues in this setting.
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