Employers in Ghana have been urged to implement mental health policies in the workplace to prioritize the wellbeing of their employees.

World Mental Health Day shed light on the growing prevalence of mental health issues in the workplace.

Data from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Special Initiative for Mental Health Situational Assessment in Ghana showed that 6.34% of young people aged 20-29 are dealing with depression, with higher figures among retirees and those aged 70 and above.

During a virtual event organized by MentaPulse Africa themed "Safeguarding Employee Mental Health in Ghana," Dr. Richmond Adusa-Poku, President of Pharmacists in Mental Health, Ghana (PMHGH), emphasized the importance of having mental health policies at every workplace.

These policies should inform employees about reporting channels for mental health concerns, similar to how sexual harassment incidents are reported.

Dr. Adusa-Poku stressed the necessity of providing mental health training during onboarding to help employees identify mental health triggers and know how to handle them.

Manuel Koranteng, Executive Director of MentaPulse Africa, emphasized the need for organizations to restructure their work environments to mitigate psychosocial hazards like long unhealthy working hours, heavy workloads, and a culture of abuse and discrimination.

These changes are crucial to protect employees from adverse mental health conditions.

“Every employee must receive training on mental health first aid. The modules may be provided by the specialists but the aim is to arm them with the skills to identify when they or their colleagues are having mental health incidents to provide immediate support or refer to the appropriate authorities,” he added.

“We must reshape the work environment to reduce psychosocial hazards such as long unhealthy working hours, heavy workloads, culture of abuse and discrimination, etc to protect workers from experiencing adverse mental health conditions,” he said.