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Table 1 Service user Interview questions (not the complete interview)

From: Filling the treatment gap: developing a task sharing counselling intervention for perinatal depression in Khayelitsha, South Africa

Symptoms of depression

 1. Do you think you have depression? Why do you think you have depression?

 2. How do these feelings that you have change your daily life?

 3. Think about a days when these feelings are really bad. Can you tell me what makes it really bad?

Strategies for dealing with depression

 4. Can you describe a day you feel better and not so depressed… What makes it better?

 5. Was there anything you did yourself?

Counselling as an intervention

 6. The word/name counselling involves somebody helping you, listening to you talking about your problems, and helping you to find some solution to those problems. It does not mean the counsellor will fix your problems for you, but they can help you find ways to solve some of your own problems by giving you new skills that you can use. This counselling is not the same as HIV counselling.

 7. Do you think that counselling could help you with your feelings of depression?

 8. In what way could it help you?

Logistics of counselling

 9. If mental health services are closer to where people live, will it help them to use the services? If you could see a counsellor to help you with depression, would you rather see that person at the clinic or at home? Is distance or transport that make it easy or difficult or money or maybe cost of services or getting someone to go with you?

 10. If someone came to your house what will your family think? What will the community think?

Characteristics of the counsellor

 11. If you could choose, would you want to see a nurse, a community health worker, or an HIV counsellor to get counselling for depression?

 12. If you could see a counsellor to help you with depression, would you rather see that person at the clinic or at home?

 13. If you could choose, what type of person would you choose to give you counselling?

 14. What age should they be?

 15. What culture should they be from?

 16. Where should they come from?

 17. What qualification or training should they have?

 18. What language should they speak?

 19. How many times in a month would you like to see the person?

 20. Would it be best done individually or in a group with other people who are depressed? Please explain.

 21. What do you think some of the problems to getting this help might be?

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