Self-help and help-seeking for communication disability in Ghana: implications for the development of communication disability rehabilitation services

Table 3 Help-seeking for communication disability, by sector (category) and type of person/place (subcategory)

Western healthcare sector			Religious sector			Traditional belief sector
	C	A		C	A		C	A
Doctor	94	115	Pastor, priest	29	23	Herbalist	41	34
Hospital	19	8	Church	20	22	Spiritualist	24	23
Medical specialist	12	3	Prayer camp	6	8	Fetish priest^b	17	11
Other professional	8	6	God	4	5	Traditional doctor (type unspecified)	0	13
Nurse	5	5	Mallam^a	2	4	Native doctors	7	4
SLP / speech specialist	5	0	Imam	1	0	Shrine	4	2
Midwife	1	1	Religious councils	1	0	Witch camp^c	1	2
Speech and hearing centre	1	0				Witchdoctor	2	0
Health centre	1	0				To the river^d	1	0
Psychiatric hospital	0	1
Total	146	139	Total	63	62	Total	97	89
Community sector			Education sector			Other response types
Community members	16	11	School for the deaf	16	0	Parliamentarian	1	0
Elderly person	12	4	Education/school (general)	10	0	Non-government organisation	1	1
Orphanage	1	0	Teacher	6	2	Gym	0	1
			Special school	3	0	Government	0	1
						Asylum	0	1
Total	29	15	Total	35	2	Total	2	4

All responses (direct and indirect questioning), with absolute frequency counts, C = child case scenario, A = adult case scenario. [Participants could report that they would seek help from more than one type of person in each sector, e.g. doctor, nurse]
^a an Islamic scholar
^b a traditional priest communicating with the spirit world who typically resides at a shrine
^c a community reserved for those thought to be witches
^d refers to a traditional spiritual practice of leaving children with disabilities or deformities “by the river”

ISSN: 1744-8603