Inter‑Sectoral Management of Suicidal Persons in Ghana: Tensions and Prospects

Abstract

Inter-sectoral collaboration health care model is essential for efective suicide prevention and treatment. This brief report presents three cases to illustrate two important facts in suicidology and related observed dynamics working as suicide researchers in Ghana. The frst fact is that suicidal work is a multidisciplinary approach. The second: there may be contex tual factors which may make a multidisciplinary approach in working with a suicidal person difcult in Ghana. The frst two cases involved the work of a Clinical Psychologist/Suicidologist (First author), while the third involved the work of a Community Psychologist/Suicidologist (Second Author). Thematic analysis of experiences showed the trajectories of tensions and prospects involved when working as a team in providing help for persons in suicidal crisis in Ghana. Based on the fndings, we make recommendations for scaling up mental health education and suicide training for allied professionals towards enriching and expanding inter-sectoral collaboration in preventing and treating suicidality.