Rehabilitation Processes involved in Rehabilitating Individuals with Alcohol and Drug Addictions at Rehabilitation Centres in Ghana

Background and Objective: Socio-economic and health consequences are the common experiences among individuals with addiction problem, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa including Ghana. Nevertheless, alcohol and drug addiction is still not perceived as a medical issue in many communities across Sub-Saharan Africa. Accordingly, several individuals with addiction are disparaged and have limited or no access to treatment and rehabilitation services. This study explored processes involved in rehabilitating individuals with alcohol and drug addiction problems in Cape Coast Metropolis of Central Region, Ghana. Methods: Qualitative data were collected through tape-recorded in-depth interview with fourteen rehabilitation service providers and fourteen patients at two rehabilitation centres in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana. Purposive and accidental sampling techniques were adopted to recruit study participants and the data were analysed through content analysis. Results: The processes involved in rehabilitating individuals with addiction were structured as unidirectional or linear involving recording the socio-demographic characteristics of the patients to recovery plans. The respondents reported that the rehabilitation processes involved limited multidimensional processes including limited interdisciplinary team of health professionals and not paying attention to the full physical, psychological, emotional, and social makeup of the patients. The challenges expressed by the respondents with the processes were a limited health care personnel, infrastructure, and inadequate follow-up logistics. Accordingly, the inadequate services most often resulted in patients’ noncompliance, relapse, service providers’ frustrations, and an unfriendly relationship between the patients and the service providers. Conclusion: The current rehabilitation processes do not take into consideration diversity and differences in the characteristics of the patients. Rehabilitation processes should incorporate need-based rehabilitation services and activities in addition to more relevant rehab resources. There should be an interdisciplinary approach to the treatment and recovery of patients in order to improve the full recovery of patients and the effectiveness of rehabilitation services.