Narrowing the care and treatment gap through a human resources for mental health plan: Key considerations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7196/Keywords:
Mental Health; Human ResourcesAbstract
-
References
1. World Health Organization. World mental health today: Latest data. Geneva: WHO, 2025. https:// www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240113817 (accessed 17 April 2026).
2. Williams DR, Herman A, Stein DJ, et al. Twelve-month mental disorders in South Africa: Prevalence, service use and demographic correlates in the population-based South African Stress and Health Study. Psychol Med 2008;38(2):211-220. https://doi.org.10.1017/S0033291707001420
3. Craig A, Rochat T, Naicker SN, et al. The prevalence of probable depression and probable anxiety, and associations with adverse childhood experiences and socio-demographics: A national survey in South Africa. Front Public Health 2022;10: 986531. https://doi.org.10.3389/fpubh.2022.986531
4. Carpenter B, Nyirenda M, Hanass-Hancock J. Disability, a priority area for health research in South Africa: An analysis of the burden of disease study 2017. Disabil Rehabil 2022;44(25):7839-7847. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2021.2000047
5. Besada D, Docrat S, Lund C. Mental health investment case for South Africa. Final report of the Mental Health Investment Case Task Team. Pretoria: National Department of Health, 2021. https://www. samrc.ac.za/research-reports/mental-health-investment-case-south-africa (accessed 20 April 2026).
6. Docrat S, Besada D, Cleary S, et al. Mental health system costs, resources and constraints in South Africa: A national survey. Health Policy Plan 2019;34(9):706-719. https://doi.org.10.1093/heapol/ czz085
7. Seedat S, Williams DR, Herman A, et al. Mental health service use among South Africans for mood, anxiety and substance use disorders. S Afr Med J 2009;99(5 Pt 2):346-352. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/19588797/ (accessed 17 April 2026).
8. Zabow T. Traditional healers and mental health in South Africa. Int Psychiatry 2007;4(4):81-83. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31507906/ (accessed 17 April 2026).
9. National Planning Commission, South Africa. Mental health situational analysis: South Africa. Updated Final Report v0.4, 8 May 2024. Pretoria: NPC, 2024. https://www.nationalplanningcommission.org.za/ assets/Documents/Mental%20Health%20Situational%20Analysis%20South%20Africa%20final%20 Report_May%202024.pdf (accessed 17 April 2026).
10. Padmanabhanunni A, Jackson K, Noordien Z, Pretorius TB, Bouchard JP, Characterizing the nature of professional training and practice of psychologists in South Africa. Annales Médico-Psychologiques Revue Psychiatrique 2022;2022:360-365. https://doi.org.10.1016/j.amp.2022.02.012
11. World Health Organization. Mental health atlas 2024. Geneva: WHO, 2025. https://www.who.int/ publications/i/item/9789240114487 (accessed 17 April 2026).
12. Shisana O, Stein, DJ, Zungu NP, Wolvaardt G. The rationale for South Africa to prioritise mental health care as a critical aspect of overall health care. Comprehens Psychiatr 2024;130:152458. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2024.152458
13. Petersen I, Fairall L, Egbe CO, Bhana A. Optimizing lay counsellor services for chronic care in South Africa: A qualitative systematic review. Patient Educ Couns 2014;95(2):201-210. https://doi. org.10.1016/j.pec.2014.02.001
14. Wainberg ML, Gouveia ML, Stockton MA, et al. Technology and implementation science to forge the future of evidence-based psychotherapies: The PRIDE scale-up study. BMJ Ment Health 2021;24(1):19- 24. https://doi.org.10.1136/ebmental-2020-300199
15. Petersen I, Fairall L, Zani B, et al. Effectiveness of a task-sharing collaborative care model for identification and management of depressive symptoms in patients with hypertension attending public sector primary care clinics in South Africa: Pragmatic parallel cluster randomised controlled trial. J Affect Dis 2020;282:112-121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.12.123
16. National Department of Health, South Africa. Annual report 2023/24. Pretoria: NDoH, 2024.
17. Mootz JJ, Weissman MM. Implementing interpersonal psychotherapy globally: A content analysis
from 31 countries. Psycholog Med 2024;54:4493-4502. https://doi.org/10.1017/ S0033291724003003 18. South Africa. Mental Health Care Act No. 17 of 2002. Government Gazette No. 448:24024.
19. National Department of Health, South Africa. 2023 National Mental Health Policy Framework and
Strategic Plan. Pretoria: NDoH, 2023.
20. National Department of Health, South Africa. 2030 Human Resources For Health Strategy: Investing
in the health workforce for universal health coverage. Pretoria: NDoH, 2020.
21. South Africa. National Health Insurance Act No. 20 of 2023. Government Gazette No. 707:50664.
22. Academy of Science of South Africa. Provider core competencies for improved mental health care of
the nation. Pretoria: ASSAf, 2021. https://doi.org/10.17159/assaf.2019/0067
23. Academy of Science of South Africa. Reconceptualising health professions education in South Africa. S Afr J Sci 2018;114,(7):82018. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-100b8e1c96 (accessed 17 April 2026).
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 M Freeman, G Wolvaardt, G Maimela

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Licensing Information
The SAMJ is published under an Attribution-Non Commercial International Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY-NC 4.0) License. Under this license, authors agree to make articles available to users, without permission or fees, for any lawful, non-commercial purpose. Users may read, copy, or re-use published content as long as the author and original place of publication are properly cited.
Exceptions to this license model is allowed for UKRI and research funded by organisations requiring that research be published open-access without embargo, under a CC-BY licence. As per the journals archiving policy, authors are permitted to self-archive the author-accepted manuscript (AAM) in a repository.
Publishing Rights
Authors grant the Publisher the exclusive right to publish, display, reproduce and/or distribute the Work in print and electronic format and in any medium known or hereafter developed, including for commercial use. The Author also agrees that the Publisher may retain in print or electronic format more than one copy of the Work for the purpose of preservation, security and back-up.





