The Status of Integrating Children and Adolescents’ Mental Health Care Services into Primary Health Care in South Africa: Scoping Review

Abstract

Background: Many children and adolescents who need mental health care services in South Africa find it difficult to access these services. The PHC approach is the foremost strategy adopted by the South African government to improve access to health care services in the country. Therefore, the integration of children and adolescents mental health care services into primary health care should greatly improve access. Objective: The objective of this review is to describe and interrogate the status of integrating children and adolescents’ mental health care services into primary health care in SA. Methods: The scoping literature review was conducted following the framework of identifying the research question, identifying relevant studies, selecting studies, charting data, and finally collating, summarising, and synthesising the results. The databases used are APA, PsychINFO, Medline, Cabinet Discover, and Africa-Wide Informatio. Thematic analysis was used to qualitatively analyse the findings of the studies reviewed. Results: Six studies were selected for inclusion in this research. The analysis yielded three themes : challenges to integrating child and adolescent mental health care, services into primary health care, the need for health care systems to enable integration of child and adolescent mental health services into primary health care, and the lack of child and adolescent mental health care services. Conclusion: The integration of child and adolescent mental health care services into primary health care in South Africa is far from realisation. Recommendations are made for practice, education, and research.