Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Farai Mhaka Is Helping To Change Our World
Balancing life and work. When any person has a balanced life, their strategic plans are more meticulous which then increases productivity and innovation which in turn results in a satisfying life.
As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Farai Mhaka.
Farai Mhaka is a Zimbabwean-born Psychiatric Research Pharmacist. He holds a Master of Science in Pharmaceutics from Rhodes University and co-authored Prescription Drug Misuse and Prevention in Sub-Saharan Africa, where he discusses substance use and misuse. His background in working as a pharmacist at a psychiatric hospital gives him a unique perspective in improving pharmacotherapeutic treatments and designing preventive measures for substance abuse.
Farai’s methodology revolves around ensuring a comprehensive Pharmaceutical Care Centered Approach which includes an assessment, a care plan, and continual evaluation. Through his research in the U.S., Farai aims to increase access to cost-effective psychotropic medication and improve therapeutic outcomes and quality of life for the millions of Americans living with mental health illnesses.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
From my background, I was exposed and strongly believe in Ubuntu. Its underlying principles revolves around “humanity towards others” which literally translate to “I am because we are.” This philosophy greatly shows collectivity, sharing and caring for others above individualism. This deep sense of Ubuntu inspired me to enter the medical field solemnly to help, care for and support others in need. There is a lot of misunderstanding to people living with mental health and substance use and misuse and I felt the need to understand and advocate for them from a pharmacy point of view. While in practice, I developed a passion for it and one should put all their energies into it making it easier and more enjoyable thereby making a positive impact on others and community at large. Mental health costs millions of dollars and with proper interventions, playing my part, I can make a difference in reducing the expenditure in such an area. This also added to my drive also to make a national impact in this specific career.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that? In the working world, you sometimes assume that medication for every patient is the same as it is indicated in the guidelines. I assumed that the standard way to manage patients with excessive aggression was to increase the benzodiazepine dose, however the patient became inactive and had unusual response behavior. If there was no early detection, the patient would have suffered the side effects of the prescribed benzodiazepines such as shortness of breath and subsequently, we could have lost the patient. We needed to look for the antidote immediately, as a team to reverse benzodiazepine overdose. I learnt that despite having guidelines for treatment of psychiatric disorders, it is important to individualize treatment as different people have different responses to prescribed medication and we should always be ready for emergency cases. Not focusing on preventing a crisis results in high expenditure when dealing with solving the problems that would have been prevented. $1 used in prevention strategies can save $7.00 in healthcare treatment procedures.
Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?
Working at a Psychiatric hospital, there has been an increase in substance use (opioids, stimulants, antidepressants) and acceptance of substance use and misuse resulting in adverse consequences at individual, family, community and national level. Being a first-hand witness of such epidemiology, it poses as a major public health concern especially to vulnerable young adults’ population group. Such perspective of mental health epidemiology is not well understood and there is need for research and training to improve treatment plans and designing preventative measures. A tailored multi-step process for each individual person must be followed to achieve desirable patient outcome in a multi-disciplinary team. Personally, I invest most of my energy in networking with other psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and other healthcare workers to achieve a common goal. Learning from each other to make informed decisions provides various angles to better manage individuals living with mental health conditions. Also bearing in mind for example management of Alzheimer’s and Dementia is projected to be 360 billion dollars by end of 2024. Stepping in with my research strategies will help in mental health and dealing with substance misuse.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause? A friend of mine, who knew that I work at a psychiatric hospital, called me to assist them with an overdose crisis. The person presented with loss of balance, loss of co-ordination, being unresponsive but awake. A lot of people around were confused but knowing these classic side effects of drug overdose, which required immediate response. We rushed the person to the psychiatric hospital where I work, and I asked medical staff on duty in casualty to assist the patient following the described symptoms. One staff member indicated that time of response was very critical in the survival of the patient. If we had delayed any form of medical attention, we could have lost him. It made me realize that the level of awareness in our community about substance use and misuse thereof is not adequate enough. A lot of people do not know that there are help centers readily available for them to use in identifying classic effects of drug overdose and how to manage such situations. It is essential to disseminate information to all levels of the community about mental health related problems and how to deal with stigma around it.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
Yes, every person has a role to perform, whether you are a professional or not, in the community to alleviate challenges related to mental health.
- Raise awareness and know the helplines to manage the crisis — Latest research states that one in every four people do suffer from mental health related problems. With this statistical information it is paramount for people to be aware that mental health is an impending health crisis. Ongoing effort, whether in form of campaigns or not, must be done to reduce the stigma around mental illness and mental health conditions by encouraging sharing of our personal experiences. Often, because of misconceptions about mental health, people suffer in silence and their conditions go untreated. It does affect our community, families and individuals. If people are aware of this, they will take cognizant measures and precautionary ways of identifying risks that are related to our mental health problem.
- Encourage mental health training at all levels of life spectrum — I advocate for mental health awareness training or programs at different life spectrum levels such as work places, churches, small community groups and schools. These programs become an opportunity to transfer the correct knowledge about the variety of mental health challenges in different spectrums such as workplaces and schools to mention these few. These programs help organizations, institutions and communities to promote good mental health being. In so doing, it will deal with stigma associated mental health problems and encourage people to deal with mental health issues appropriately.
- Let us be a proactive community rather than a reactive community in relation to mental health- It is well known that prevention is better than cure. Let us all adopt strategies to be proactive about the mental health state of ourselves and the people around us. There are so many different approaches that we could all use to manage emotional, intellectual, spiritual, occupational, financial, social, environmental and physical elements of our mental well-being.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
A good leader creates a conducive environment for others to perform better. My mentor during my internship year once told me, “A great leader in his/her absence or presence is shown by how people below him/her perform duties”. If the subordinate people can perform duties the same way and or over and above what is expected of them with minimum to low supervision, it is a sign of a great leadership. Likewise, if subordinate employees cannot replicate duties, or perform below standards duties. That leader has to identify problems and solve them, figure out a way of transmitting the envisioned goal to every team member of the very least of standards needed. It may warrant, retraining, in-service training on the subject and not limited to disciplinary actions to correct bad behavior while being guided by code of conduct, constitution and institution policies.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
1. Balancing life and work. When any person has a balanced life, their strategic plans are more meticulous which then increases productivity and innovation which in turn results in a satisfying life.
A satisfying life with innovation can produce a quality output in the different spheres of life. It also provides a better platform for good interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships in different professional spectrums, where progressive ideas are shared. In the early stages of my career, I was more focused on my career and paying less attention to my own personal life. This in turn led to the starvation of my own personal and family goals which was now affecting my work life. When I had a balance, I realized an exponential success in both aspects of my career and my personal life.
2. I am reminded of a familiar saying, “One bad apple can spoil the bunch.” The phrase refers to a situation in which one person’s negative demeanor or bad behavior can affect the team negatively. It made me understand some different personalities and characters within the institution where I worked. Understanding these different character traits was something I wasn’t familiar with, and I got to learn at a later stage of my career. Knowing different character traits of everyone made it easier to handle stress, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, relate to others, and to make healthy choices as these affects how they feel, think and act. We can only be as strong as our weakest link, and it is vital to take care of every individual’s mental health to produce positive results in any organization.
3. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. The journey of dealing with mental health requires patience, perseverance, hard work and determination. It needed me to continuously learn on the new developments on this condition for example during the Covid-19 pandemic era there was a rise on different mental conditions that needed to be dwelt using different approaches. All of us have a part to play, directly or indirectly, in alleviating mental health related problems through campaigns, training, online blogs and using different social media platforms to raise awareness.
4. Constantly checking on my mental wellbeing and those around me that is family, colleagues and the community at large. Bearing in mind, according to Noam Shpancer “Mental health is not a destination but a process; it’s about how you drive, not where you’re going.” It’s important to constantly check the mental status of everyone within the organization to achieve great results. People often choose not to deal with mental health and/or substance abuse. I would have loved to know early in my career that if there is anyone suffering with health and/ or substance abuse to firstly admit that they need help to manage it. They need to seek either pharmacological treatment or non-pharmacological preventative measures. Depending on the severity of the problem, different pharmacological approaches can be used to manage the diagnostic condition. Non-pharmacological measures include having a good support system such as mental health support groups, making use of the social networks available, and having healthy relationships that understand your journey. I would have loved to know that some routine activities such as dancing, music therapy, wellness exercise, aromatherapy boosted the moral within any individual early in my career and recommended it to specific people.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
What comes to mind is, “Mental health for ALL matters.” And it will just bring awareness to the society that is struggling with mental health issues and to remove that stigma within the people and it is something that needs to be heard by all, irrespective of who you are or your profession. We cannot be ignorant that mental health affect can affect us at individual, family and community level.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I am inspired by a Pericles quote that says, “What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” I want to make a difference in people’s lives at a local, regional and national level. It aligns with my Ubuntu principles of shaping a brighter future and saving the generation to come. I hope my work will be essential for advancing mental health research, improving public health, and enhancing societal welfare.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
Simple, Dr. Harvey Castro. Dr. Harvey Castro is one of the leading innovators in artificial intelligence (AI). I would like to have a brunch with him discussing the impact of artificial intelligence and its integration with Healthcare Services. There is so much to unpack with AI in bridging the gap between comprehensive health care services with desire to patient outcome not limited mental health. AI has been posed to have superior IQ compared to human beings. So, how can we incorporate and integrate superior intelligence in mental health related problems? Can AI have greater significant preventative ratios compared to current ways to dealing with mental health issues? To what greater magnitude can AI support benefit over risk assessment in dealing with mental health problems? Can AI be utilized in early detection and correct diagnosis of mental health conditions? My understanding is that artificial intelligence is human-led and technology-driven, so to what extent can human influence be if we use AI to alleviate mental health problems? And I will ask, how effectively can we deploy AI in healthcare considering the restrictive privacy acts, personal data protection act, ethical contemplation and transparency consideration revolving around AI and HealthCare use in accordance with our professional standards?
How can our readers further follow your work online?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/farai-mhaka-079444b8/
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85732-5
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you continued success in your great work!
