the FREEDOM PROJECT

Over 90% of UK prisoners (aged 16+) have been found to suffer from a mental illness (most reliable available study). In Ghana, conditions such as overcrowding, poor feeding, lack of privacy, and absence of structured rehabilitation programs make the situation potentially worse, yet mental health services are largely absent.

 At the prisons, mental health illnesses and disorders are difficult to diagnose and manage because of the lack of  facilities and technical know-how. The persistence of these problems leads to loss of productivity, increased  treatment cost, increased mortality and increased number of recidivists. The lack of mental health programs  running at the prisons has debilitating effects on the prisoners, the prison staff and the larger community as a  whole.