Cape Coast, May 17, GNA – Mental Health Conditions (MHCs) is the leading cause of disability globally, Dr.Wisdom Kwadwo Mprah, Senior Lecturer, Centre for Disability Rehabilitation Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has said.
He noted that it was so because, MHCs were often undetected, underdiagnosed, and undertreated while many people with the conditions received treatment late.
“A major reason accounting to this is low mental health literacy among the populace,” he added.
Dr Mprah was presenting findings of a research study done by the Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD).
The research which commenced in 2021 was on the topic: “Empowered Deaf People for Improved Mental Health (ENDEIMH)”.
The study comprised of 487 persons including deaf persons, persons with MHCs, caregivers, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and health workers.
He said a mixed method of qualitative and quantitative approach was used simultaneously to collect data for the study which provided a general overview of the situation within the deaf community.
Dr. Mprah who is also the Principal Investigator, said, participants who were deaf demonstrated good knowledge on mental health conditions.
He said among all the MHCs, Schizophrenia was the most familiar to both sexes while depression was the least known, adding that females appeared familiar with MHCs symptoms than males.
On their challenges, he said deaf people with MHCs were ill treated by colleague workers, faced ejection from their homes, stigma by the society, divorce, communication barriers and all forms of abuse.
The investigator said caregivers had little or no idea about MHCs, believing that these conditions could be caused by parental lifestyle during pregnancy, injury, or the influence of God.
On some recommendations, Dr. Mprah said mental health researches must target deaf people and report must be disaggregated by the type of disability so that the needs of each group would be visible for policy making and designing.
He indicated that mental health policies and programmes must avoid lumping all persons with disability together because their needs and concerns were not the same.
“Deaf people should specifically be targeted for provisions relevant to their specific situation could be made, this is the way go”, he further added.
GNA