ArticlePloS one2023
Towards implementation of context-specific integrated district mental healthcare plans: A situation analysis of mental health services in five districts in Ghana.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed.
- Beyond the Law: A Qualitative Socio-Ecological Study of Substance Use Treatment Barriers and Adaptations in Ghana.Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing · 2026Article
- Treatment Experiences of Individuals With Co-Occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders and Perspectives of Mental Health Workers in Ashanti Region, Ghana.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- 'Mental health was always the last; always an afterthought': policy analysis of domestic financing and prioritisation for mental health in Ghana.BJPsych open · 2026Review
- Integrating a Non-Communicable Disease Care Cascade within Ghana's Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Program: the COMBINE Pilot Implementation Trial.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Feasibility and effectiveness of an interprofessional educational program on perinatal mental health: perspectives of health students in two African countries.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Programme for the Effective Promotion of Maternal Psychosocial Wellbeing (PREPWELL) in Ghana: Development and field-testing of a mHealth Intervention in a rural setting.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- Preparing for the Next Pandemic: Lessons from COVID-19's Impact on Child and Adolescent Health Inequities in Ghana.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Estimating the prevalence, socioeconomic determinants, and health seeking behavior of individuals with depression in Ghana.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Readiness Assessment of Healthcare Professionals to Integrate Mental Health Services into Primary Healthcare of Persons with Skin-Neglected Tropical Diseases in Ghana: A Structural Equation Modeling.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- A comprehensive review of mental health services across selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa: assessing progress, challenges, and future direction.Discover mental health · 2025Review
- Development and Implementation of Mental Healthcare Plans in Three Districts in Ghana: A Mixed-Method Process Evaluation Using Theory of Change.Community mental health journal · 2025Article
- Acceptability and perceived impact of a mental health and disability programme in Ghana.African journal of disability · 2025Article
- Facilitators and barriers in managing older chronic heart failure patients in community health care centers: a qualitative study of medical personnel's perspectives using the socio-ecological model.Frontiers in health services · 2025Article
- Disparities in the access and provision of mental health services as part of primary health care: a case study of Ga-South district in the Greater Accra region.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Article
- COVID-19 pandemic and access to mental healthcare: A qualitative study of the experiences of mental healthcare providers and caregivers in Ghana.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Article
- Perceptions of healthcare workers on linkage between depression and hypertension in northern Ghana: a qualitative study.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2024Article
- Knowledge and use of art therapy for mental health treatment among clinical psychologists.PloS one · 2024Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAccess 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.
methodsA 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.
resultsThe 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.
conclusionThere 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.
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