Community Perspectives on Psychosis in Malawi with 76 Participant Interviews

76 participants from Malawi's Salima and Chiradzulu districts were interviewed between October and December 2023. This qualitative dataset contains summarized themes and representative quotes from 16 in-depth interviews and six focus group discussions with traditional healers, religious leaders, caregivers, and persons with lived experience. The data explores community perspectives, treatment-seeking practices, and pathways for psychosis management.

Use Cases

• Analyze cultural attributions of psychosis based on themes like witchcraft and substance use mentioned in the description
• Study treatment-seeking pathways based on the described preference for traditional and religious leaders over biomedical services
• Inform the design of community-based detection systems based on participant recommendations for involving health surveillance assistants
• Examine the influence of economic challenges on healthcare provision as described in the study context

Strengths

• Data is based on 76 participants across four distinct stakeholder groups, providing diverse perspectives.
• Collection method is documented as 16 in-depth interviews and six focus group discussions using semi-structured guides.
• Clear temporal and geographic scope: collected in two Malawian districts between October and December 2023.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is very small at 9.5 KB, indicating limited scope, likely containing only summarized themes and quotes rather than raw transcripts.

Provenance

Source

Author Dennis Chasweka via figshare.

Collection Method

Purposive sampling for qualitative interviews and focus group discussions, with thematic analysis.

Time Range

October to December 2023.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05 17:28:14; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Salima and Chiradzulu districts, Malawi.