Church leaders' understandings of how Christian beliefs inform mental illness identification and remediation in effected members: a scoping review.
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Date
2021
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Abstract
Introduction: Christianity is the world’s leading religion with an estimated 2.3 billion
followers, with evidence of influence both in the developing world and amongst developed
nations throughout the globe. Literature has demonstrated that church clergy across varying
contexts and communities serve the function of mental health gatekeepers and are often the
first access point for their community, particularly among people living in low socio-economic
settings without adequate access to professional mental health services.However, some issues
raised by previous studies were that certain Christian beliefs have been linked with promoting
stigma, internalized shame and delayed help-seeking. This study aims to synthesize and map
past research that investigated church leader’s representation of how Christian beliefs inform
mental illness identification and remediation (referral pathways) in vulnerable church
members. Method and Analysis: A scoping review was performed to gain an overview of the
available evidence from literature concerning this topic. The data was screened using the
PRISMA-ScR flow diagram according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Relevant
databases were sourced for literature and a total of 11 studies were eligible for final review.
Results and Discussion: Data from the literature was synthesized in table format according
to: Author(s) and Year, Study Title, Aims and Objectives, Operational Definition of Concepts,
Methodology, and Results. Thematic analysis was used on the data to describe the existing
literature and gaps in narrative format. Four themes were identified from the data; 1) Clergy’s
conceptualisation of mental illness, 2) Role of Clergy in remediation/intervention regarding
suspected cases of mental health issues (referral pathways) 3) Impact of socio-cultural context,
4) Reviewed Study’s Recommendation. These themes were found to be prominent dynamics
among studies that investigated clergy’s representation and treatment of mental illness.
Conclusion and Recommendations: Four overarching themes were identified among studies
that investigated church clergy’s representation and remediation pathways of mental illness for
vulnerable church members. Future research should focus on researching the usefulness of
clergy and mental health practitioner collaborations in mental health treatment, which can
benefit vulnerable church members.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.