COKER AYODELE OLUROTIMI

Behavioural Medicine

At the Behavioural Medicine department office

Appointment on Visitation important

Topic: Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry; Community Mental Health Services; Stress, Neurotic And General Psychiatric Disorders

Description:

1. Consultation-liaison Psychiatry - my research studies demonstrated the need for other physicians and surgeons to recognise mental health disorders in their patients in order to refer them for collaborative management of the identified co-morbid psychiatric disorders. I also demonstrated the need for active collaborations between various units of medicine, surgery, and psychiatry.

2. Social and Community Psychiatry - my studies demonstrated that the mental health treatment gap exists in Nigeria and the urgent need to fill the identified gap. Likewise, the need to provide psychiatric psycho-social rehabilitation services were highlighted. The need to integrate mental health care to community and primary health care discussed for policymakers to take decisive action were discussed.

3. Neurotic, Stress-related, and Somatoform Disorders - my works on these topics highlighted psychological stress, distress, job dissatisfaction, and the burnout syndrome among Nigerian workers. The management of burnout for physicians was also proffered.

4. Validation Studies - three (3) important psychometric instruments – Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) were validated by our team and their psychometric norms were suggested for the use of screening the burnout syndrome, dental anxiety, and depression, anxiety and stress in the Nigerian community

#	Certificate	School	Year
1.	M.Sc (Clinical psychology)	University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria	1999

Depression, Anxiety and Stress among Volunteer Health WOrkers in Lagos

This study aimed at investigating the prevalence and factors associated with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms among volunteers who volunteered to carry out free health services in Lagos, Nigeria. It was a cross-sectional survey. The secondary objective was to determine whether there were differences between individuals who were experiencing depression, anxiety, or stress and those who were not. One hundred and sixty-three consecutive health workers were invited to take part in the study. Sociodemographic and clinical data were gathered using a semi-structured proforma. Assessments were further done using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale. According to the DASS-21 scale, 30.3% had various levels of depression, and various levels of anxiety were detected in 47.5% of participants. Similarly, various levels of stress were detected in 29.5% of the participants. There were significant associations between the sub-domains of depression anxiety and stress. High levels of depression, anxiety and stress were detected among the participants. The higher degree was evident, particularly among the single, female participants. The results will serve as supporting evidence for the timely intervention of further planning of preventative mental health services by the supervising ministry for volunteer health workers within the public and private health sectors. This implicates the need for mental health training. Hospital management and medical policymakers should continue to provide various types of therapies to increase the emotional resilience and coping skills of healthcare workers. 

COKER AYODELE is a Professor at the Department of Behavioural Medicine

COKER has a M.Sc in Clinical psychology from University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria