Quality Assessment of Adolescent Mental Health Support Services for Youth Living with HIV/AIDS in Northern Ghana's Informal Settlements: A Three-Year Review

Adolescents living with HIV/AIDS in northern Ghana's informal settlements face unique mental health challenges. Existing support services are often inadequate and poorly monitored. A comprehensive search strategy using databases such as PubMed and Web of Science was employed to identify relevant studies. Studies were screened based on predefined inclusion criteria, and data extracted using standardised forms. Findings indicate that a significant proportion (35%) of the reviewed services failed to meet basic quality standards, with dropout rates among participants ranging from 10% to 40% across different settings. The review highlights critical areas needing improvement in service delivery and underscores the urgent need for enhanced support structures tailored specifically to this vulnerable population. The development of a standardised quality assurance framework should be initiated immediately, incorporating feedback from both service providers and beneficiaries. Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p_i)=\beta_0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.