Patient satisfaction with psychotherapy in a Nigerian Tertiary hospital

Abstract

Satisfaction with services from patients’ perspectives is a significant indicator of the quality of services received and it is also a predictor of patients’ health-related behaviours such as compliance and return for follow-up after the initial visit. However, little is known about what constitutes ‘satisfaction with psychotherapy’ from the patients’ point of view. The theories that served as a framework for the study were Desire-fulfilment theory, Stimuli-Organism Response theory, and theory of Alliance. The aim of the study is to evaluate factors that influence patients’ level of satisfaction with psychotherapy in Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. This qualitative study utilized Focused Group Discussions and In-Depth Interviews. Thirty-six (20 females and 16 males of age 35.97±10.25) individuals who were being managed for depressive disorder within the health-care facility, selected via purposive sampling, participated in the study. Each interview lasted for an average of fifty minutes in duration; the interviews were conducted in English language, transcribed verbatim and content-analyzed. Emerging overarching themes were: patient working relationship with the Clinical Psychologist, therapy physical environment, knowledge of psychotherapy, change in service personnel, financial constraint and duration of waiting time. It was concluded that evaluating patients’ satisfaction with services received within the healthcare establishment is increasingly becoming important and if managed properly, could be used in educating healthcare services providers, thereby making them more responsive to the expectations of patients. It was therefore recommended that psychotherapy service providers periodically evaluate satisfaction with psychotherapy from patients’ perspectives in order to identify likely areas for service improvement which will be of benefit to service consumers and providers