<![CDATA[This study examined how mental health inequalities are communicated and socially negotiated by children in child-headed households (CHHs) in the Epworth settlement. Positioned within the sociology of communication, the study treats disclosure and silence as its central objects of analysis. Three objectives guided the study: to explore how CHH children communicate and make sense of their mental health challenges, to examine the structural barriers limiting their access to mental health services, and to identify community-centered solutions for enhancing that access. The study employed a qualitative case study design, integrating resilience theory with Goffman’s theory of stigma. Ten children from CHHs constituted the primary participants, while five key informants were purposively selected. The study generated data through in-depth and key informant interviews and analyzed them using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase reflexive thematic analysis. Findings indicated that CHH children experience trauma, chronic stress, anxiety, prolonged grief, and helplessness, with limited opportunities to communicate this distress. Access to mental health services was constrained by poverty, limited service availability, low mental health literacy, and a stigma in which disclosure is a communicative act carrying a lasting social cost. Proposed solutions centered on community-embedded communication channels: local service delivery, mental health education, free provision, coordinated multisectoral action, and mobile outreach modeled on familiar community health communication infrastructure.]]>
