Dr Ursula Read, who leads on the research in Ghana for Workstream 2, presented findings from the community mapping and stakeholder interviews in Ghana at a meeting of the World Psychiatric Association in Addis Ababa in November attended by psychiatrists and researchers from across Africa and elsewhere.

The title of her presentation was Supporting social inclusion for persons with mental illness in Ghana. Ursula spoke about how community mapping identified a growth in specialized and non-specialized services for persons with mental health problems in Ghana including NGOs, civil society organisations, places of worship and state-funded and private health and social services. However, these are unevenly distributed, there is limited coordination among the various organisations and costs can prohibit access.

Findings from stakeholder interviews highlighted tensions between international standards and the realisation of rights in practice and the influence of social, cultural, historical, economic and political contexts on mental health care and social inclusion. Understanding these is crucial to the successful implementation of policies to address inequalities in the treatment and support of persons with psychosocial disabilities in diverse settings and facilitate meaningful social inclusion.

The slides from the presentation can be viewed here: Read UM WPA 2018