Post treatment experiences of leprosy patients at Mutemwa Leprosy Catholic and Care Centre in Mutoko

Abstract

For many years, leprosy has been medically curable through Multi-Drug Therapy (MDT), yet cured patients continue to face lifelong social, psychological, and physical complications due to stigmatization, rejection, and permanent disabilities. This has called for a deeper understanding of post-treatment lived experiences, particularly in institutional settings such as Mutemwa Leprosy Catholic and Care Centre in Mutoko, Zimbabwe, where cured patients remain resident long after biomedical cure. Hence the study sought to explore the post-treatment experiences of leprosy patients at Mutemwa Leprosy Catholic and Care Centre. The research objectives were to examine the post-treatment services given to cured leprosy patients, to scrutinize the complications associated with post-treatment lives, to analyses the coping mechanisms adopted by patients, and to propose recommendations to enhance service delivery and address complications. The study adopted a qualitative approach using a descriptive phenomenological design with a sample size of 12–14 participants selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through semistructured in-depth interviews and key informant interviews. Thematic analysis grounded in descriptive phenomenology was used to analyses the data. The findings show that post-treatment services at Mutemwa are limited to basic medical rehabilitation (wound care, physiotherapy) and spiritual support, with no formal psychological counselling, vocational training, or community reintegration programmes. Cured patients face profound complications including permanent physical disabilities, internalised stigma, social death (loss of identity and community ties), family rejection, economic dependency, and psychological distress such as depression and hopelessness. Coping mechanisms adopted include religious faith, peer support among residents, withdrawal from social contact, and acceptance of institutional dependency. The findings also identified challenges such as lack of trained mental health personnel, exclusion from national disability benefits, absence of discharge pathways, and policy fragmentation between health and social welfare sectors. Strategies that can be employed to address these challenges include integration of psychosocial services into leprosy care, establishment of vocational training and microenterprise support, family mediation and community sensitization, legal advocacy for inclusion in disability benefits, and development of formal community reintegration pathways. The study therefore recommends holistic, human rights-based approaches that extend beyond biomedical cure to include psychological rehabilitation, economic empowerment, legal protection, and community reintegration for cured leprosy.