BASIC NEEDS GHANA, a non-governmental organization working towards addressing mental health issues in Ghana in collaboration with MEHSOG have trained over thirty (30) traditional and Faith-Based mental health healers to help in the fighting against mental health issues in the country.
The healers, both male and female were drawn from the Tamale metro and that of Zabzugu district assemblies and were trained on how to manage mental health cases without dehumanizing victims.
The training forms part of the project "strengthening access to timely and quality rehabilitation to survivors to Torture and Organized Violence" (TOV) in Ghana funded by DIGNITY, Danish Institute Against Torture.
TOV is aimed at promoting sustainable rehabilitation and human rights in the work of traditional and faith-based healers in Ghana, especially in mental health.
In his submission, the facilitator Mr. Hannan Legen taking the participants through the training noted that the Traditional and Faith-based Healers were the first point of call for many families when they encounter mental illness.
He explained that several reasons accounted for this, including people’s perception of mental illness and insufficiency of formal health facilities, making unorthodox caregivers relevant in the mental health delivery system of Ghana.
Mr. Hannan admonished Traditional and Faith-based Healers to eschew dehumanizing methods of providing care to clients in order to ensure sustainable rehabilitation for all.
According to him, most people who suffer from mental illness in Ghana also suffer maltreatment by traditional and faith-based healing centres, including shackling, flogging, and forced fasting, worsening the plight of victims.
He, therefore, charged them to blend modern practices into their works in order that they can provide best services for their clients without subjecting them to inhuman treatments.
Some of the participants who spoke to the media express gratitude to the Basicneeds Ghana for the knowledge gained.
According to them, they have been practicing for years but lacked knowledge of efficient client handling.
ABOUT BASICNEEDS GHANA
BasicNeeeds-Ghana is a mental health advocacy organisation that has the sole purpose of ensuring that people with mental illness and epilepsy are able to access mental health treatment and live and work within their communities. The organization is a member of the BasicNeeds International Federation.
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