Sexual violence against vulnerable populations is common worldwide and many survivors of sexual assault experience long-term mental health difficulties. A recent study led by Dror Ben-Zeev, PhD evaluated sexual violence exposure among women with mental illness in Ghana and examined their readiness to engage in mobile health (mHealth) interventions.

Dr. Ben-Zeev’s team surveyed 200 women receiving inpatient or outpatient treatment at Accra Psychiatric Hospital in Ghana. Summarized in a recent publication, “Sexual trauma and interest in mobile health among women with mental illness in Ghana,” this study contributes to the growing literature on exposure to sexual violence among women with mental illness in low and middle income countries.

“Sexual trauma is a topic that is seldom discussed and rarely treated in Ghana,” says Dr. Ben-Zeev.

It is believed that this study is the first to examine lifetime exposure to sexual violence among psychiatric patients in Ghana and to evaluate their interest and readiness for mHealth interventions. Their findings suggest that 41% of the survey respondents had experienced sexual violence, a rate that is markedly higher than the global lifetime exposure rate in the general population. Among those survivors, 38% continue to be affected by the experience and 76.5% indicated that they would be interested in a mobile resource that could provide mental health support.

Notably, none of the study participants were evaluated or treated for mental health difficulties related to their sexual violence experience as part of the services they received at the hospital; this remains an unmet need. Most of the sample (86%) reported owning a mobile phone and the majority of those devices were smartphones that can support mHealth apps. Nearly all of the participants say they have consistent access to electricity and a data plan, and all reported using their device daily. Taken together, these findings suggest that there are significant unmet mental health needs among Ghanian women who experienced sexual violence. Most of these women would be open to mHealth interventions, and most of them have access to the material resources necessary for the deployment of mHealth interventions in their communities.

There are significant clinical workforce shortages in Ghana, especially as it pertains to professionals trained in evidence-based psychosocial interventions (Accra Psychiatric Hospital has only one full-time clinical psychologist) and as a result, patients seldom receive sufficient psychoeducation or training on how to manage their mental health, leading to an overreliance on pharmacotherapy as the sole intervention. An mHealth service that could provide patients with psychoeducation about their condition and treatment options, as well as useful tips about coping strategies to improve mental health and reduce stress, could be a lower-cost method of bridging this gap.

“While West Africa does not have many mental health providers, it is remarkably well-resourced when it comes to mobile technologies,” says Dr. Ben-Zeev. “This is exactly the type of situation where mobile health interventions have the potential to do a lot of good.”

This study was a collaboration between UW’s BRiTE Center, Trauma Recovery and Resilience Innovations (TRI) group, the University of Ghana, and Accra Psychiatric Hospital.