SynthesisPloS one2025
Pathways to mental health services across local health systems in sub-Saharan Africa: Findings from a systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Structural and health system determinants of mental health in Tanzania: mapping policy recommendations to the WHO comprehensive mental health action plan 2013-2030.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- The Kush Drug Epidemic in Sierra Leone: Public Health Implications, Socioeconomic Drivers and Health System Responses.Public health challenges · 2026Review
- Neuropsychiatry genetics in Africa.Nature communications · 2026Review
- Factors influencing referral pathways and collaboration between traditional and mental health practitioners in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Review
- The role of traditional healers and barriers to collaboration with biomedical providers in mental health service delivery in Wakiso district, Uganda: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Stakeholder Consensus on Strategies for Collaboration Between Traditional and Biomedical Mental Health Services in Post-Conflict Tigray, Ethiopia.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Mental health laws in Africa: Perspectives from Cabo Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- Article
- Religious leaders as mental health gatekeepers in Nigeria: Belief-attitude typologies and implications for faith-health system integration: Findings from the CLERIC study.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- Building the foundation: Training, stakeholder engagement, and planning for Common Elements Treatment Approach (CETA) implementation in Uganda.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Readiness for collaboration: an implementation science perspective on integrating Nigerian religious leaders into mental health systems - findings from the CLERIC study.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Global trends and health inequalities in mental disorders among older adults: a comprehensive analysis using global burden of disease 2021 data.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Globally, over 280 million individuals suffer from mental disorders, and almost 85% in low-resource settings do not receive any therapy. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), many patients are forced to either live with untreated mental illness or seek care from traditional or religious leaders due to the high treatment cost. This literature review identifies pathways to access mental health services and proposed a collaborative model for care across SSA. We systematically searched five electronic databases (Embase and MEDLINE via OVID, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Global Index Medicus) using the following search terms, 'pathways to care', 'mental disorders,' and 'sub-Saharan Africa' for primary studies reporting on pathways to care for mental disorders in SSA. There were no restrictions on the study's date. Overall, the electronic database search produced 3399 search results, of which we retrieved 194 articles for full-text screening and 29 studies included in the analysis. This study finds that traditional and faith-based healers play an integral role in the pathway to care; more than 70% used traditional and religious healers as the first point of care for mental health care. The median duration for the delay in seeking treatment in a health facility was six months. Patients who sought care from traditional and faith healers were found to have experienced the most prolonged delay without treatment. Age, gender, level of education, marital status, and geographical location were some of the factors associated with the pathway choice. Patients who sought care from traditional and faith healers as the first point of care were found to have experienced the most extended delay without treatment when they arrived at the hospital. The study proposes and recommends a new model for collaboration between biomedical, traditional and faith-based healers that focuses on education through training and adopting a new referral framework.
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