Effects of Barriers and Facilitators of Mental Healthcare Service Use in Ghana: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Background Mental illness is a threat to the global world. Globally, in every eight (8) people, one (1) had a mental disorder in 2019 and this is estimated to rise drastically (WHO, 2019). This, apart from the health threats to the globe, also poses economic and social dangers as it leads to low productivity, stigmatisation, discrimination, abuse and high health costs. In Ghana, one in five persons will deal with a mental health issue at some point in their lives (Badu et al., 2018). According to WHO (2011) one out of ten Ghanaians suffers from mental disorders including depression, anxiety schizophrenia, and bipolar to mention a few. Access to mental healthcare in Ghana is crippled with many challenges (Quarshie et al., 2021). This study aims to investigate enablers and barriers to mental health access in Ghana. Methods This study employed a scoping review method to analyse and synthesise articles published from 2018 to 2024 on enablers of barriers to mental health access in Ghana. A search was carried out across electronic databases spanning the years 2018–2024, including CINAHL (EBSCO) (2000–2024), EMBASE (2000–2024), Medline (2000–2024), HealthSTAR (2000–2024), Google Scholar (2000–2024), PsycINFO (2000–2024), PubMed (2000–2024), Scopus Index (2000–2024), and Web of Science (2000–2024). This was done following the guidelines recommended by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) for conducting systematic reviews (Pearson et al., 2014. The eligibility criteria for the scoping review were underpinned by the population/concept/context (PCC) framework. To be included, studies had to meet the below criteria: • Studies focused on Ghana regarding barriers and enablers of access and use of mental health services from the perspective of service users were included. • Studies that target multiple participant groups, including stakeholders from government ministries, health professionals, mental health service users based in cities, rural, or remote areas of Ghana, family members/community members, and caregivers were included. • Quantitative and qualitative studies that shed light on barriers and enablers of mental health service delivery were included. Both published and unpublished papers; thesis, commentaries, and expert opinions. • Only articles published in English from 2000 to 2024 shedding light on barriers and enablers of mental health service delivery from the perspective of service users were included. • Articles that elucidated obstacles that impeded the uptake, quality, or level of mental health services being accessed or described facilitators that allowed the uptake, quality, or level of mental health services being received were included. • The review included papers that explore the treatment strategies, enablers, and barriers to accessing mental health services. It also included papers that measure the extent to which mental health service provision functions in Ghana. The exclusion criteria were: • Studies that did not target the variables of interest (i.e. enablers and barriers to access and use of mental health services, and treatment strategies) were excluded. • Also, articles published before 2000 and those published in languages other than English were excluded. • Studies on barriers and facilitators that do not focus on Ghana were excluded.