Inter-Sectoral Management of Suicidal Persons in Ghana: Tensions and Prospects
- PDF / 622,927 Bytes
- 7 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 20 Downloads / 151 Views
BRIEF REPORT
Inter‑Sectoral Management of Suicidal Persons in Ghana: Tensions and Prospects Joseph Osafo1 · Johnny Andoh‑Arthur1 Received: 12 July 2020 / Accepted: 23 September 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Inter-sectoral collaboration health care model is essential for effective suicide prevention and treatment. This brief report presents three cases to illustrate two important facts in suicidology and related observed dynamics working as suicide researchers in Ghana. The first fact is that suicidal work is a multidisciplinary approach. The second: there may be contextual factors which may make a multidisciplinary approach in working with a suicidal person difficult in Ghana. The first two cases involved the work of a Clinical Psychologist/Suicidologist (First author), while the third involved the work of a Community Psychologist/Suicidologist (Second Author). Thematic analysis of experiences showed the trajectories of tensions and prospects involved when working as a team in providing help for persons in suicidal crisis in Ghana. Based on the findings, we make recommendations for scaling up mental health education and suicide training for allied professionals towards enriching and expanding inter-sectoral collaboration in preventing and treating suicidality. Keywords Suicide · Prevention · Collaboration · Ghana
Introduction In various spheres of health management, multiple professional involvement in prevention has been a commonplace. For instance, there is evidence of multidisciplinary approach in managing stroke (Tyson et al. 2014), and in managing pain (Murphy and Anderson 1984; Pape and Rafiullah 2005). The field of suicidology is multidisciplinary as it draws on the intellectual and clinical traditions of various disciplines such as psychology, sociology, epidemiology, medicine, theology, public health and others (Silverman 2006). Perhaps the best slogan that captures the multidisciplinary nature of the science of suicidology is the slogan “suicide prevention is everybody’s business”. The multidisciplinary approach to suicide prevention, however, does come with challenges. De Leo (2002) has observed that at the macro level of multidisciplinary cooperation, it is difficult to achieve a balanced composition between biologically and psychologically * Johnny Andoh‑Arthur jandoh‑[email protected] Joseph Osafo [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, University of Ghana-Legon, Post of Box LG 84, Accra, Ghana
oriented investigators in any collaboration effort. At the micro level of multidisciplinary cooperation, there may be other challenges that bedevil the relationship. Views and reactions towards suicides within a particular context can also inhibit or foster collaboration. In Ghana, there are three levels at which negative attitudes towards suicide are expressed: at the family/community level, the religious level and the legal level (see Osafo 2016 for an extensive discussion of these). The Ghanaian eminent scholar Kwame Gyekye (1995) has succinc
Data Loading...
