In:
PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science (PLoS), Vol. 18, No. 5 ( 2023-5-18), p. e0285324-
Abstract:
Access to quality mental health services in Ghana remains poor, yet little is known about the extent of the access gaps and provision of mental health services at the district level in Ghana. We aimed to conduct an analysis of mental health infrastructure and service provision in five districts in Ghana. Methods A cross-sectional situation analysis was conducted using a standardised tool to collect secondary healthcare data, supplemented by interviews with key informants, across five purposively selected districts in Ghana. The Programme for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME) situation analysis tool was adapted to the Ghanaian context and used for data collection. Results The districts are predominantly rural ( 〉 60%). There were severe challenges with the provision of mental healthcare: there were no mental healthcare plans, supervision of the few mental health professionals was weak and unstructured, access to regular supplies of psychotropic medications was a major challenge, and psychological treatments were extremely limited given the lack of trained clinical psychologists. There were no available data on treatment coverage, but we estimate this to be 〈 1% for depression, schizophrenia, and epilepsy across districts. Opportunities for mental health systems strengthening include: the commitment and willingness of leadership, the existence of the District Health Information Management System, a well-established network of community volunteers, and some collaboration with traditional and faith-based mental health service providers. Conclusion There is poor mental health infrastructure across the five selected districts of Ghana. There are opportunities for strengthening mental health systems through interventions at the district healthcare organisation, health facility, and community levels. A standardised situation analysis tool is useful for informing district-level mental healthcare planning in low-resource settings in Ghana and potentially other sub-Saharan African countries.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1932-6203
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.g001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.t001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.t002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.t003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.t004
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.t005
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.t006
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.t007
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.t008
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.s001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.s002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.s003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.s004
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.s005
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.r001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.r002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.r003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.r004
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.r005
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.r006
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.r007
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0285324.r008
Language:
English
Publisher:
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Publication Date:
2023
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2267670-3
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