An Evaluation of Students’ Perspective on Availability and Appropriateness of Mental Health Care Services in University of Juba, South Sudan

This paper explores the quantitative and qualitative nature of services available in University of Juba (UOJ) to students with mental health issues. The study focused on identifying whether students in UOJ were aware of the meaning of mental illness, what caused it, what services were available for the university students with such conditions, where did they get alternative support, the relationship between mental health and academic performance, challenges faced by students with mental issues and how they could be handled. This was a case study that used only University of Juba (UOJ) out of the five public universities in the Republic of South Sudan. UOJ was identified on basis of its strategic position in the capital city of the country and also the largest with wider admission of students from all the ten states and the two administrative areas of South Sudan. The study considered students’ perspectives; therefore, data collected only confirms students living with disability views on the subject. The study used 20 respondents who were identified using purposive sampling and they were the ones identified through the help of the Deanship of Students’ Affairs (DSA). Data was collected using an open-ended questionnaire and data was largely analyzed and presented in qualitative form and presentation was done using a descriptive approach as well as a basic quantitative method; this included tables, graphs, percentages and graphic expressions. Findings suggest that UOJ students have knowledge of mental illness and can identify the affected students by symptoms. However, findings show that from the students’ perspective, they have limited services within the university and some prefer to seek help elsewhere other than the university. The study has found out thin university mental health responders are inadequately prepared to help students with mental health partly due to their low level of professional training on disabilities and also due to high level of stigmatization and negative attitude toward them. The main implications of the study are the need for a more elaborate referral system so that the UOJ can send students for further services from external agencies. This should come even after the university has identified, trained and recruited and placed qualified staff in the DSA to assist students with mental health issues. The study recommended that UOJ should set aside a budget to help in streamlining the DSA in order to be able to respond to mental health issues among students. Further, the university administration should work closely with external service providers to be able to help refer the students with mental health difficulties for specialized treatment. Finally, the study suggested areas that require further research like doing a similar study to other levels of education like high schools and also widening the study to include the opinion of service providers like students, university Students’ counsellors and other personnel under DSA in public universities.