Funding for this research was provided by:
University of Botswana (not applicable)
Article History
Received: 11 February 2021
Accepted: 20 August 2021
First Online: 3 September 2021
Declarations
:
: Ethical approval has already been obtained from the University of Botswana Institutional Review Board (UBR/RES/IRB/BIO/179) and the Botswana Ministry of Health and Wellness (HPDME 13/18/1). Permission to undertake this study has been obtained from Sbrana Psychiatric Hospital.Potential participants who meet the inclusion criteria will be informed of the study, its benefits, and potential harms before consenting to participate in the study. A consent document with information about the purpose of the study, methodology, voluntary participation and potential harms will be given to the potential participant to read in a language of their choice between Setswana and English. For participants who are not comfortable with reading, the document will be read out to them. When satisfied with the contents of the consent document and all their concerns addressed, participants will be given an informed consent form to sign to signify approval to participate in the study. Those who decline to sign will be excluded from the study. During recruitment, KM will document contacts of participants eligible for the pilot trial in order to be able to follow them up. The contact details of participants will be kept separate from data collection instruments. The researcher will transcribe them into a password protected laptop and encrypt the folder.There is risk of PTSD symptoms becoming more severe in the treatment as usual group. Patients will therefore be screened weekly by the trained research assistants with the assessment tools laid out in Table InternalRef removed above and those whose symptoms are becoming more severe will be withdrawn from the study and with their consent be referred to a clinical psychologist as per hospital guidelines. An increase of the PCL-5 scores by five or more will be considered a significant change for referral based on previous research for PCL for DSM-IV which recommended five points as a minimum threshold for determining change in symptoms. Patient’s name and clinical information will only be revealed to the mental health clinicians if the participant consents, if they do not consent the researcher will offer PTSD psychoeducation including definition of PTSD, symptomatology, how it comes about referring to their experience trauma derived from the questionnaires and give them information on available psychiatric services available for them to seek help voluntarily. De-identified findings will be disseminated with the hospital managements and staff, Ministry of Health and published and peer-reviewed journals.
: Not applicable
: All authors declare no competing interests. KM is a PhD candidate and is financially supported by the University of Botswana to conduct this study.