Health Promotion as Part of a Holistic Approach to Community Mental Health Care in Sierra Leone

Abstract

Mental health care in Sierra Leone is deplorable and its service delivery faces immense challenges. Improving mental health care facilities and services and encouraging health care professionals to enter this sector of service is probably plagued by the strong stigma that prevails in society. Reliable quantitative data on mental illness is extremely minimal. There is a dearth and paucity of information required for effective evalutation. Schizophrenia, hypomania and substance abuse seem to lead the charts in terms of diagnosed mental health disorders in Sierra Leone. An overall picture of the country’s mental health care and disease burden is presented herein. Health promotion is suggested as cardinal in a holistic approach to community health care as it represents a comprehensive social and political process; which embraces strategies and actions directed at strengthening the skills of individuals, changing social, environmental and economic conditions. This overview discusses extensively and recommends that there should be a comprehensive review

Keywords: Health Promotion, Mental Health Care, Sierra Leone