Support and Services for Adolescents with Mental Health Issues in Ghana: A Narrative Review
Article Sidebar
-
adolescent, Ghana, mental health disorder, support systems, micro-mezzo-macro
Abstract
Aim: This narrative review explores and critically examines the current landscape of support systems for adolescents with mental health disorders and challenges (AMHCD) in Ghana, an area that has been unexplored and in need of extensive research.
Method: The study synthesised findings from literature accessed through computerized databases, manual searches, and grey literature.
Results: The review identified that the support system for AMHCD spans micro (family and individuals), mezzo (school and community), and macro (policy and healthcare systems) levels, offering both direct and indirect services. However, the themes identified reveal a significant disconnect between the levels of care, driven by limited resources, stigma, lack of trained professionals, and gaps between policies and practical implementation.
Conclusion: Unlike previous studies, this review underscored the need for more holistic services and offered valuable insights into Ghanaian adolescents' current mental health support systems. Doing so fills the gap in the literature by providing insight into the fragmented landscape of the support systems for AMHCD in Ghana to shine light on the issues, thereby promoting the need for further research to enhance support for this vulnerable population.
Implication: This review has important implications for policy implementation and key adolescent mental health support stakeholders. Policymakers can use these insights to improve services and make them more accessible to adolescents. Families and other actors in the ADMH support system will better understand available support, helping them seek appropriate care.
Full text article
Authors
Copyright (c) 2025 The Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License By-NC-ND 4.0 that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
