Carrying the burden alone: A qualitative study of the everyday challenges and mental health of women in Okurase, Ghana.

Abstract

Mental health difficulties are an increasing global challenge, and represent a substantial part of the global burden of disease. In order to tackle these mental health issues, there is a need for mental health interventions that are guided by research based on a more varied and inclusive group worldwide. Research and accompanying interventions related to mental health are particularly scarce in developing countries. This study aims to explore how women who live in the village of Okurase in Ghana describe their everyday challenges, and in what way we can understand these challenges and the issues they raise in the terms of mental health. This study is based on original data material collected through an independent research project, in which a qualitative design with the Life Mode Interview was employed. A total of eight informants were interviewed. The informants are women from the rural village of Okurase, who have received psychological counselling at the Village Health Outreach, a health clinic which provides the area with free health care for five days every summer. The interviews were transcribed and analysed by using thematic analysis by Braun and Clarke. The analysis resulted in three themes; the role of relations with the family, the role of relations with the community, and the significance of work. These themes describe what kind of challenges that are important for the informants in their everyday lives, and how they experience these challenges. The findings from this study imply that the informants attribute their challenges to sociocultural and socioeconomical circumstances. Material deprivation and inadequate support result in an inability for the women to influence their own circumstances. This affects psychological aspects that are associated with mental health, such as perceived control, self-esteem, and sense of mastery. Based on the findings of this study and existing research, this thesis concludes that mental health interventions in poor communities should include a contextual perspective, where mental health practice also consists of ensuring social and economic rights for the clients.