ABSTRACT
Background: An important
function of research is to identify community needs in certain fields. As
mental health is a vital issue to us, identifying and prioritizing mental
health needs is important to policy makers to help them in setting goals for
different programs that meet the needs of a specific community in a certain
health area. Purpose: To identify the health research needs in the field of mental health in Gaza Strip,
Palestine. Design and Methods: The design was a qualitative design using focus group, need assessment and
non-structured interview for data collection. Participants: Participants
included three focus groups. First group consisted of students enrolled in a
master program of community
mental health nursing; second group included seven faculty members who were
specialists in mental health; and
third group included six key persons from the ministry of health and the chair of community mental health
program in WHO at Gaza Strip. Results: Results of this qualitative study revealed several themes that
emerged from the thematic analysis. Many health research needs were identified by participants.
These needs included the following topics: stigma, family integration,
aggression of children born to substance-abuse fathers, post-partum depression,
counseling, talking therapy in clinical practice, behavioral problems,
tramadole abuse, risk factors leadingto drug dependence, autism, exploring the
role of religion in mental health, and Wellness Recovery Action Plan.
Implication for Practice: Well designed studies will help to identify and
prioritize the health needs for a specific community. Identifying the needs
related to community mental health is
one of the first steps to help in pushing these needs into the agenda of health
policy makers, who then will work to set goals and design policies and programs
that aiming to meet the needs of the community, which hopefully will produce a
community with less mental health problems.