Setting Mental Health Priorities in Ghana: A 15-Year Contextual Analysis of the Presidential State of the Nation Address
Globally, mental health issues have been neglected and allowed to be suppressed by stigma and discrimination for a very long time, although mental disorders are responsible for about 30% of the global non-fatal disease burden. Thus, the global call for solution to this challenge admonishes governmen...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Challenges |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2078-1547/12/2/22 |
| _version_ | 1797505879401037824 |
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| author | Emmanuel Nii-Boye Quarshie Priscilla Ayebea Davies Pearl Ama Otoo |
| author_facet | Emmanuel Nii-Boye Quarshie Priscilla Ayebea Davies Pearl Ama Otoo |
| author_sort | Emmanuel Nii-Boye Quarshie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Globally, mental health issues have been neglected and allowed to be suppressed by stigma and discrimination for a very long time, although mental disorders are responsible for about 30% of the global non-fatal disease burden. Thus, the global call for solution to this challenge admonishes governments, donors, and mental health service users to prioritise mental health. Towards this end, speeches by key political actors can be used to garner public support and set out strong arguments for the prioritisation of mental health. Guided by the agenda-setting theory, this study sought to contribute to the evidence on the mental health priorities in Ghana by conducting a summative qualitative content analysis of the state of the nation addresses (SONAs) presented by presidents of Ghana from 2007 to 2021. Findings show that no mental health condition was highlighted in any of the SONAs, and mental health priorities in terms of policy and investment were superficial, inadequate, and woefully incomparable to those of physical health. It is suggested that government should heighten mental health priorities, given that mental disorders are leading the top 10 causes of the years lived with disability burden in the country. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:24:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3ee9632e8a634d07be76093df986a3c1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2078-1547 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:24:39Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Challenges |
| spelling | doaj.art-3ee9632e8a634d07be76093df986a3c12023-11-23T07:40:19ZengMDPI AGChallenges2078-15472021-09-011222210.3390/challe12020022Setting Mental Health Priorities in Ghana: A 15-Year Contextual Analysis of the Presidential State of the Nation AddressEmmanuel Nii-Boye Quarshie0Priscilla Ayebea Davies1Pearl Ama Otoo2Department of Psychology, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra P.O. Box LG 84, GhanaOffice of the Vice Chancellor, Pentecost University, Sowutuom Campus, Kaneshie, Accra P.O. Box KN 1739, GhanaDepartment of Statistics, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra P.O. LG 115, GhanaGlobally, mental health issues have been neglected and allowed to be suppressed by stigma and discrimination for a very long time, although mental disorders are responsible for about 30% of the global non-fatal disease burden. Thus, the global call for solution to this challenge admonishes governments, donors, and mental health service users to prioritise mental health. Towards this end, speeches by key political actors can be used to garner public support and set out strong arguments for the prioritisation of mental health. Guided by the agenda-setting theory, this study sought to contribute to the evidence on the mental health priorities in Ghana by conducting a summative qualitative content analysis of the state of the nation addresses (SONAs) presented by presidents of Ghana from 2007 to 2021. Findings show that no mental health condition was highlighted in any of the SONAs, and mental health priorities in terms of policy and investment were superficial, inadequate, and woefully incomparable to those of physical health. It is suggested that government should heighten mental health priorities, given that mental disorders are leading the top 10 causes of the years lived with disability burden in the country.https://www.mdpi.com/2078-1547/12/2/22Ghanamental healthmental health prioritiesstate of the nation address |
| spellingShingle | Emmanuel Nii-Boye Quarshie Priscilla Ayebea Davies Pearl Ama Otoo Setting Mental Health Priorities in Ghana: A 15-Year Contextual Analysis of the Presidential State of the Nation Address Challenges Ghana mental health mental health priorities state of the nation address |
| title | Setting Mental Health Priorities in Ghana: A 15-Year Contextual Analysis of the Presidential State of the Nation Address |
| title_full | Setting Mental Health Priorities in Ghana: A 15-Year Contextual Analysis of the Presidential State of the Nation Address |
| title_fullStr | Setting Mental Health Priorities in Ghana: A 15-Year Contextual Analysis of the Presidential State of the Nation Address |
| title_full_unstemmed | Setting Mental Health Priorities in Ghana: A 15-Year Contextual Analysis of the Presidential State of the Nation Address |
| title_short | Setting Mental Health Priorities in Ghana: A 15-Year Contextual Analysis of the Presidential State of the Nation Address |
| title_sort | setting mental health priorities in ghana a 15 year contextual analysis of the presidential state of the nation address |
| topic | Ghana mental health mental health priorities state of the nation address |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2078-1547/12/2/22 |
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