Pluralistic Approaches to Mental Health Care in Ghana

In many African countries, traditional and faith healers are popular options for treating mental health problems. But there are serious concerns about healers engaging in potential human rights abuses. Collaboration between medical professionals and healers has long been proposed to address gaps in mental health services and promote culturally valued care while preventing such abuses. Ghana has pioneered this approach through policy innovations to promote collaboration, but the use of harmful methods like chaining continues. Challenges to collaboration include variation in healing practices, resource scarcity, and the partial success of psychiatric interventions.