A Review of Telepsychology and Mental Health Mobile Apps in Advanced Countries: Opportunities for Ghana’s Mental Health Care

Volume 4 - Issue 2

Evelyn Owusu*

Received: June 16, 2020;   Published: June 25, 2020

DOI: 10.32474/SJPBS.2020.04.000184

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Abstract

Sustainable development denotes the development of nations in ways that are not restrictive for future generations in their efforts to meet their own needs. Without healthy human beings, sustainable development cannot be successfully carried out or assessed as a goal. For this reason, health, which forms the third arm of sustainable development goals have received much attention across nations. In Ghana, however, the aspect of health which has not received as much attention lies in the area of mental health. This paper addresses how mental health care and access in Ghana can be improved through the use of applied science and technology. Specifically, recommendations are made about the prospects that telepsychology and mental health mobile apps hold for applications in Ghana. This concept is introduced in the paper by reviewing telemental health practices and the use of mobile mental health apps in more advanced countries like the United States and Britain. The paper addresses how these two concepts can be introduced in Ghana, and guided by the experiences of other African countries, the potential associated challenges of implementation are also discussed. The paper ends with recommendations on how to overcome these challenges and makes note of the impossibility of fully achieving sustainable development goals for health when Ghana’s mental health care system remains in such dire states.

Keywords:Sustainable development; Ghana; Mental health; Telepsychology; Mental health mobile apps

Abstract| Introduction| Methodology| Review of Telepsychology and Mental Health Mobile Apps| Finding and Recommendation| Conclusion| Conflict of Interest| References|