Religious leaders play a key role in providing support to persons in mental health crisis. The aim of this study is to examine how religious leaders in the Ga Municipal District of Ghana perceive their role in the prevention of suicide in their community and the kinds of help they provide to persons in suicidal crisis. A semi-structured interview guide was used to gather data from 28 religious leaders. Thematic analysis of the transcribed data showed that religious leaders perceive their role in suicide prevention as frontliners with a caring obligation to help suicidal persons because of the possible loss of a life. Further, when religious leaders interact with suicidal persons, they create healing communities, provide lay counseling, provide referrals to mental health professionals, offer prayer and deliverance, provide social support, and induce hope in such persons. Implications for interprofessional collaboration and gatekeeper training for religious leaders in Ghana are addressed.

宗教领袖在为处于精神健康危机中的人提供支持方面发挥着关键作用。本研究的目的是研究加纳 Ga 市辖区的宗教领袖如何看待他们在社区预防自杀方面的作用以及他们向处于自杀危机中的人提供的帮助类型。半结构化访谈指南用于收集 28 位宗教领袖的数据。对转录数据的专题分析表明，宗教领袖认为他们在预防自杀方面的作用是前线人员，他们有责任帮助可能失去生命的自杀者。此外，当宗教领袖与有自杀倾向的人互动时，他们会创建治愈社区，提供非专业咨询，向精神卫生专业人员提供转介，提供祈祷和解救，提供社会支持，并为这些人带来希望。讨论了对加纳宗教领袖的跨专业合作和看门人培训的影响。