There have been growing concerns over the continuous deterioration and deplorable conditions in which mental health patients find themselves in parts of Ghana.
Mental health patients are exposed to the vagaries of the weather with poor sanitation conditions, and without basic necessities, such as food, water, and shelter. Some mental health patients in some instances are abused or attacked, while others become victims of road crashes.
These challenges faced by mental health patients are attributed mainly to the homelessness of these victims.
A non-governmental organization (NGO) focusing on improving the conditions of mental health patients has indicated that homelessness of mental health patients continues to violate Universal Human Rights.
The Mensah Mental Health Rehabilitation Project (MEMHREP) stated that the lack of homes for mental health patients violates the principle of human dignity enshrined in articles 1 and 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The MEMHREP is using its 12th anniversary, which coincided with this year’s World Mental Health Day commemoration, to intensify advocacy for mental health patients to be provided with decent places of abode to further prevent them from being exposed to further harm.
The organization has over the years rescued hundreds of victims of mental illness who are found on the streets and subsequently provided them with employable skills after rehabilitation. These victims under this intervention are also fed and clothed, and thousands of vulnerable people are educated through its FEE initiative.
The FEE (FEED, EDUCATE, and EMPLOY) program is a social intervention module designed to reduce mental illness in a particular area where persons suffering from mild symptoms of mental illness could be located.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Mensah Mental Health Rehabilitation Project (MEMHREP), Adu Gyamfi Mensah, said in a statement that the organization’s primary goal is to complete an ongoing ultra-modern rehabilitation center in the Ashanti region of Ghana to cater for homeless mental health patients.
According to him, the facility, upon completion, will provide quality mental health care for persons living with mental illness in Ghana and beyond.
The rehabilitation center, upon completion, will be able to house about 300-500 in-patients as well as 1,500 out-patients.
He therefore appealed to corporate bodies, religious and traditional groups, as well as community members, to help in the completion of this project.
He added, “We believe your financial and moral support would put smiles on the faces of persons with mental illness and other vulnerabilities and make the world a better place for all.”
The site will consist of a resettlement center containing workshops and apprenticeship centers that will provide skills training for recovered service users before they are integrated into their families and society, a conference center, which will contain a chapel and mosque for prayers and spiritual upliftment of our service users and Doctors and nurses’ bedroom flats, which will provide accommodation for resident staff.
Other facilities at the site include a day clinic (Out-patient) comprising a pharmacy, male and female wards, laboratory, administration office, consulting rooms, nurse’s bay, records, and injection rooms, Kitchen/ Dining halls for staff and service users, offices and staff stations, including security posts, waste treatment plants, and Outdoor recreational facilities/ Parks.
The NGO currently operates in four countries, namely Ghana, the United Kingdom (UK), Netherlands, and Sierra Leone, and is dedicated to addressing the plights of persons living with mental illness and other vulnerabilities.
