Mental Health Research in Ghana: A Literature Review
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2013-12-09
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Abstract
Mental health is a neglected area in health care in Ghana. With few clinicians and trained researchers in the field, research has been limited both in quantity and quality. A search of the available literature revealed 98 articles published between 1955 and 2009. Sixty-six are reviewed in this paper. Topics covered included hospital and community-based prevalence studies, psychosis, depression, substance misuse, self-harm, and help-seeking. Much of the research was small in scale and thus largely speculative in its conclusions. Epidemiological data is scarce and unreliable and no large-scale studies have been published. There are very few studies of clinical practice in mental health. The existing literature suggests several important areas for future research to inform the development of targeted and effective interventions in mental health care in Ghana.