Ghana

PARTNER

WHO

In recent years the government of Ghana has taken positive steps to improve the situation faced by the 2.8 million people with mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities in the country. A new Mental Health Act and the establishment of a Mental Health Authority have all created momentum. Yet in order to promote human rights and recovery effectively and sustainably in all settings and at all levels, it is essential to improve knowledge, attitudes and practices among all mental health stakeholders.

To this end we are supporting the World Health Organization (WHO) in a project that uses an e-training foundation course with online coaching on mental health, human rights and recovery to strategically build capacity and change attitudes among a wide range of national stakeholders. This will promote attitudes and practices that respect the dignity and rights of people using services and holistic, person-centered and recovery-oriented care and support. An assessment of quality care and human rights will be carried out to evaluate the impact of the project in Pantang Hospital, one of the three public psychiatric hospitals in Ghana.

A key feature of this project is that it harnesses the disseminating properties of new and innovative technologies to strengthen knowledge and skills in the areas of human rights and recovery. It is anticipated that this project will massively scale up training, directly improving the lives of more than 10,000 people with mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities and, indirectly, their families and communities. Moreover, the estimated 5,000 stakeholders receiving the e-training will directly benefit from it by improving their knowledge and skills.