TY - JOUR KW - South Africa KW - Theatre of the Oppressed KW - maternal mental health KW - pedagogy KW - task-shifting AU - S. Honikman AU - S. Field AU - S. Cooper A1 - AB - South Africa, like many low-and-middle-income countries, is integrating mental health services into routine Primary Health Care (PHC) through a task-shifting approach to reduce the gaps in treatment coverage. There is concern, however, that this approach will exacerbate nurses' abuse of patients currently common within PHC in the country. To address this concern, the Perinatal Mental Health Project developed its Secret History method, a critical pedagogical intervention for care-providers working within maternity settings. This article describes the method's theoretical underpinnings and practical application amongst nurses. Drawing on Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed and contrary to traditional nursing training in South Africa, the method creates a space for nurses to interrogate and reimagine nurse-patient relations. By introducing nurses to a counter ideology of empathic care, the method seeks to prepare the maternity environment for mental health task-shifting initiatives and ensure these initiatives are more democratic, responsive and humane. AD - University of Cape Town.; University of Cape Town.; South African Medical Research Council. BT - Transcultural psychiatry C5 - Healthcare Disparities CP - 1 CY - England DO - 10.1177/1363461519844640 IS - 1 JF - Transcultural psychiatry M1 - Journal Article N2 - South Africa, like many low-and-middle-income countries, is integrating mental health services into routine Primary Health Care (PHC) through a task-shifting approach to reduce the gaps in treatment coverage. There is concern, however, that this approach will exacerbate nurses' abuse of patients currently common within PHC in the country. To address this concern, the Perinatal Mental Health Project developed its Secret History method, a critical pedagogical intervention for care-providers working within maternity settings. This article describes the method's theoretical underpinnings and practical application amongst nurses. Drawing on Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed and contrary to traditional nursing training in South Africa, the method creates a space for nurses to interrogate and reimagine nurse-patient relations. By introducing nurses to a counter ideology of empathic care, the method seeks to prepare the maternity environment for mental health task-shifting initiatives and ensure these initiatives are more democratic, responsive and humane. PP - England PY - 2020 SN - 1461-7471; 1363-4615 SP - 173 EP - 182 EP - T1 - The Secret History method and the development of an ethos of care: Preparing the maternity environment for integrating mental health care in South Africa T2 - Transcultural psychiatry TI - The Secret History method and the development of an ethos of care: Preparing the maternity environment for integrating mental health care in South Africa U1 - Healthcare Disparities U2 - 31067152 U3 - 10.1177/1363461519844640 VL - 57 VO - 1461-7471; 1363-4615 Y1 - 2020 Y2 - Feb ER -