Lkpobi@ug.edu.gh
Mental health, community health, disability, social exclusion and social justice, gender, child and adolescent (mental) health, cultural/social drivers of health, health information systems, climate and health issues
Articles in peer-reviewed journals
Mathias, K., Bunkley, N., Pillai, P., Ae-Ngibise, K. A., *Kpobi, L., Taylor, D., ... & Read, U. M. (2024). Inverting the deficit model in global mental health: An examination of strengths and assets of community mental health care in Ghana, India, Occupied Palestinian territories, and South Africa. PLOS Global Public Health, 4(3), e0002575.
*Kpobi, L., Read, U.M., Selormey, R.K., & Colucci, E. (2024). ‘We are all working toward one goal. We want people to become well’: A visual exploration of what promotes successful collaboration between community mental health workers and healers in Ghana. Transcultural Psychiatry, 61(1), 30-46. https://doi.org/10.1177/13634615231197998
Sodi, T., Abas, M., Abdulaziz, M., Amos, A., Burgess, R.A., Hanlon, C., Kakunze, A., *Kpobi, L., Lund, C., Mwangi, K.J., Mutiso, V., Sunkel, C., Yaro, P., & Arseneault, L. (2024). A research agenda for mental health in sub-Saharan Africa. Nature Medicine, 1-2.
Ferazzoli, M.T. & *Kpobi, L. (2024). It takes a village: lessons from rural community mental health services in Ghana. Journal of Integrated Care Special Issue, 32(1), 52-62. https://doi.org/10.1108/JICA-07-2023-0057
Kong, C., Campbell, M., *Kpobi, L., Swartz, L., & Atuire, C. (2023). The hermeneutics of recovery: Facilitating dialogue between African and Western mental health frameworks. Transcultural Psychiatry, 60(3), 428-442. doi:10.1177/13634615211000549
Rose-Clarke, K. & Women in Global Mental Health Research Group. (2023). Gender (in) equity in global mental health research: A call to action. Transcultural Psychiatry, 60(3), 400-411. https://doi.org/10.1177/13634615231180376
Dzokoto, V. A., Osei-Tutu, A., *Kpobi, L., Banks, K. H., & Ryder, A. G. (2023). Representations of mental illness in a Ga community in southern Ghana. Journal of Black Psychology, 49(4), 435-465. https://doi.org/10.1177/00957984231192141
Sneddon, J., Thompson, W., *Kpobi, L. N., Ade, D. A., Sefah, I. A., Afriyie, D., ... & Byrne-Davis, L. (2022). Exploring the use of antibiotics for dental patients in a middle-income country: Interviews with clinicians in two Ghanaian hospitals. Antibiotics, 11(8), 1081.
Sarfo, E.A., Yendork, J.S. & *Kpobi, L. (2022). Is the church a place of solace or frustration? An examination of the impact of contemporary Christianity on congregants of selected neo-prophetic churches in Ghana. Journal of Religion in Africa, 52(1-2), 146-169. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700666-12340219
Ned, L., Ohajunwa, C. & *Kpobi, L. (2021). Thinking about mental health and spirituality from the Indigenous Knowledge Systems frame of reference. Disability Studies Quarterly Special Issue, 41(4). https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v41i4.8450
Yendork, J.S., Amponsah, A., Sarfo, E.A., & *Kpobi, L. (2020). “The prophet says…”: A qualitative analysis of the mechanisms for inducing compliance among congregants of neo-Pentecostal churches in Ghana. Pastoral Psychology, 69(3), 249-266. doi:10.1007/s11089-020-00908-3
Yendork, J.S., *Kpobi, L. & Sarfo, E.A. (2019). Is contemporary Christianity promoting or hindering mental health in Africa? An exploration of the impact of charismatic church activities and doctrines on the mental well-being of selected Ghanaian congregants. Journal for the Study of the Religions of African and its Diaspora, 5(1), 50-68.
*Kpobi, L., & Swartz, L. (2019). Indigenous and faith healing in Ghana: A brief examination of the formalising process and collaborative efforts with the biomedical health system. African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine, 11(1), a2035. doi:10.4102/phcfm.v11i1.2035.
*Kpobi, L., & Swartz, L. (2019). Indigenous and faith healing for mental health in Ghana: An examination of the literature on reported beliefs, practices and use of alternative mental health care in Ghana. African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine, 11(1), a1941. doi:10.4102/phcfm.v11i1.1941.
*Kpobi, L., & Swartz, L. (2019). Ghanaian traditional and faith healers’ explanatory models of intellectual disability. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities (JARID), 32(1), 43-50. doi:10.1111/jar.12500
*Kpobi, L., Swartz, L. & Omenyo, C. (2019). Traditional herbalists’ methods for treating mental disorders in Ghana. Transcultural Psychiatry, 56(1), 250-266. doi:10.1177/1363461518802981
*Kpobi, L.N.A., & Swartz, L. (2019). Muslim traditional healers in Accra, Ghana: Beliefs about and treatment of mental disorders. Journal of Religion & Health, 58(3), 833-846. doi:10.1007/s10943-018-0668-1
Salifu Yendork, J., Brew, G.B., Sarfo, E.A, & *Kpobi, L. (2018). Mental illness has multiple causes: Beliefs on causes of mental illness by congregants of selected neo-prophetic churches in Ghana. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 21(7), 647-666. doi:10.1080/13674676.2018.1511694
*Kpobi, L., Swartz, L. & Keikelame, M.J. (2018). Ghanaian traditional and faith healers’ explanatory models for epilepsy. Epilepsy & Behavior, 84, 88–92. doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2018.04.016
*Kpobi, L., & Swartz, L. (2018). Explanatory models of mental disorders among traditional and faith healers in Ghana. International Journal of Culture & Mental Health, 11(4), 605–615. doi:10.1080/17542863.2018.1468473
*Kpobi, L. N. A., & Swartz, L. (2018). “The threads in his mind have torn”: Conceptualization and treatment of mental disorders by neo-prophetic Christian healers in Accra, Ghana. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 12: 40. doi:10.1186/s13033-018-0222-2
*Kpobi, L., & Swartz, L. (2018). “That is how the real mad people behave”: Beliefs about and treatment of mental disorders by traditional medicine men in Accra, Ghana. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 64(4), 309–316. doi:10.1177/0020764018763705
*Kpobi, L., & Swartz, L. (2018). Implications of healing power and positioning for collaboration between formal mental health services and traditional/alternative medicine: The case of Ghana. Global Health Action, 11:1, 1445333. doi:10.1080/16549716.2018.1445333.
*Kpobi, L., Swartz, L. & Ofori-Atta, A. (2018). Challenges in the use of the mental health information system in a resource-limited setting: Lessons from Ghana. BMC Health Services Research, 18: 98. doi:10.1186/s12913-018-2887-2.
*Kpobi, L., Sarfo, E.A. & Yendork, J.S. (2017). “I am here because of Christ and worshiping God”: Factors influencing religious switching among Ghanaian charismatic Christians. Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 39, 295-311. doi:10.1163/15736121-12341342
Salifu Yendork, J., *Kpobi, L., & Sarfo, E. A. (2016). “It’s only ‘madness’ that I know”: Analysis of how mental illness is conceptualized by congregants of selected Charismatic Churches in Ghana. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 19(9), 984-999. doi:10.1080/13674676.2017.1285877
Dzokoto, V., Senft, N., *Kpobi, L. & Washington-Nortey, P.M. (2016). Their hands have lost their bones: Exploring cultural scripts in two West African affect lexica. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 45(6), 1473-1497. doi:10.1007/s10936-016-9415-5
Dzokoto, V., Opare-Henaku, A. & *Kpobi, L. (2013). Somatic referencing & psychologization in emotion narratives: A USA-Ghana comparison. Psychology & Developing Societies, 25(2), 311-331. doi:10.1177/0971333613500875
Books/Book chapters
Murray, K.E., Schweitzer, R.D, *Kpobi, L. & Kagee, A.S. (in press). Key issues, topics, and promising mental health practices. In K.E. Murray, R.D. Schweitzer, A.S. Kagee. & *L. Kpobi (Eds.). Mental health in diverse sub-Saharan African contexts: Challenges, opportunities, collaborations. Palgrave Macmillam
Murray, K.E., Schweitzer, R.D, *Kpobi, L. & Kagee, A.S. (in press). Introduction to the Handbook. In K.E. Murray, R.D. Schweitzer, A.S. Kagee. & *L. Kpobi (Eds.). Mental health in diverse sub-Saharan African contexts: Challenges, opportunities, collaborations. Palgrave Macmillam
Murray, K.E., Schweitzer, R.D, Kagee, A.S. & *Kpobi, L. (in press). Mental health in diverse sub-Saharan African contexts: Challenges, opportunities, collaborations. Palgrave Macmillam
*Kpobi, L., Peprah, J., Gyimah, L., & Attah, D.A. (2024). Culture, disability and global mental health. In L. Ned, K. Soldatic, M. Rivas, S. Singh & L. Swartz (Eds.). Routledge Handbook on Disability and Global Health. (pp. 477-492) Routledge.
*Kpobi, L., Asafo, S.M., Oti-Boadi, M., & Kpobi, D.N.A. (2023). Of personhood and being: Examining the place of spirituality in African personhood. In J. Osafo & C.S. Akotia (Eds.). Personhood, community and the human condition: Reflections and applications in the African experience. (pp. 48-64) Ayebia Clarke Publishing.
Asafo, S.M., *Kpobi, L., & Gavi, J.K. (2023). Personhood, mental health and health seeking behaviour. In J. Osafo & C.S. Akotia (Eds.). Personhood, community and the human condition: Reflections and applications in the African experience. (pp.127-146) Ayebia Clarke Publishing.
*Kpobi, L., Kwakye-Nuako, C., & Gyimah, L. (2023). Mental health law and practice in Ghana: An examination of the implementation of Act 846. In B.D. Kelly & M. Donnelly (Eds.). Routledge Handbook of Mental Health Law. Routledge
Yendork, J.S., *Kpobi, L., & Sarfo, E.A. (2020). Is contemporary Christianity promoting or hindering mental health in Africa? An exploration of the impact of charismatic church activities and doctrines on the mental well-being of selected Ghanaian congregants. In F.B. Nyamnjoh & J.A. Carpenter (Eds.). Christianity and social change in contemporary Africa: Volume One (pp. 81-112). Mankon, Bamenda: Langaa RPCIG. doi:10.2307/j.ctv12pnnq5.7
*Kpobi, L., Osei, A. & Sefa-Dedeh, A. (2014). Overview of mental healthcare in Ghana. In A. Ofori-Atta & S. Ohene (Eds.). Changing trends in mental health care & research in Ghana: A Reader of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Ghana Medical School. Accra: Sub-Saharan Press
2023 Publishing Qualitative and Visual Mental Health Research in Ghana and Indonesia. Funded by The British Academy International Writing Workshops grant (WW22\100194). Role: Co-Applicant.
2022 Developing a network for mutual learning on the potential of creative arts for mental health advocacy and activism in Ghana and Indonesia. Funded by UKRI/AHRC (AH/X009637/1). Role: Co-Investigator.
2022 Using film to engage stakeholders in Ghana and identify priority actions for mental health. Funded by AHRC Impact Fund/ ESRC Impact Acceleration Account. Role: Co-investigator
2022 Together to transform: a mutual learning platform to develop a social paradigm for Global Mental Health. Funded by King’s College London. Role: Collaborator
2019-22 Re-examining the ‘Global’ in Global Mental Health. Funded by Wellcome
Trust. Role: Co-investigator.
2021 The impact of COVID-19 on persons with psychosocial disabilities in Ghana
and Indonesia and priorities for inclusive recovery. Funded by AHRC GCRF
urgency grants scheme. Role: Co-investigator.
2020-21 Using participatory arts and community conversations to promote social inclusion for persons with mental illness in Ghana. Funded by KCL ESRC Impact Acceleration Account. Role: Co-investigator.
2020- Pan-African Mental Health Research Network. Role: Collaborator
2020 International COVID-19 Awareness & Response Evaluation Study (iCARE Study). Multi-country study with Montreal Behaviour Medicine Centre. Role: Collaborator.
2019-21 Oral histories of community mental health in Ghana. Funded by the Global
Challenges Research Fund. Role: Collaborator
2018-21 Using collaborative visual research methods to understand experiences of mental illness, coercion and restraint in Ghana and Indonesia Funded by AHRC/ESRC GCRF New Social and Cultural Insights into Mental, Neurological, and Substance Use Disorders in Developing Countries (ES/S00114X/1). Role: Postdoctoral research fellow.
2018-20 Frameworks of attitudes towards mental health disorders in contemporary Ghana. Funded by Oxford University Global Initiative for Neuropsychiatric GenEthics (NeuroGenE) Role: Collaborator
2016-17 Is Contemporary Christianity promoting or hindering mental health in Africa? The case of Ghana. Funded by Nagel Institute of Calvin College/John Templeton Foundation (2016-SS360). Role: Co-Principal Investigator
POPS604: Social Demography
POPS611: Qualitative Research Methodology
POPS614: Gender and Reproductive Health
POPS702: Advanced Qualitative Research Methods