Frontiers in public health · 2026
The growing burden of mental health and the role of digital technologies in the Global South: policies, cultural contexts, and community-based transformations-a systematic review of gray literature evidence.
СтатьяСистематический обзорНазвание и аннотация: Перевод в очереди
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Onyango Joseph Odhiambo
Аннотация
BACKGROUND: Mental health conditions are among the fastest growing and most inequitably distributed global disease burdens. Structural determinants- poverty, conflict, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic compound a persistent mismatch between internationally developed policy frameworks and the cultural and infrastructural realities of populations in the Global South.
OBJECTIVE: This systematic review identified, appraised, and synthesized gray literature evidence on (1) the growing mental health burden across Global South regions (2015-2025); (2) digital technology responses in Global South LMIC contexts; and (3) policy, cultural, and community-based factors shaping mental health transformation efforts.
METHODS: A pre-registered systematic gray literature review spanned five source tiers. Following systematic screening and AACODS quality appraisal, 140 records published between 2015 and 2025 were included.
RESULTS: Four themes emerged: (1) an accelerating, structurally driven mental health burden across Global South regions; (2) a severe and entrenched treatment gap sustained by chronic underinvestment, workforce shortages, and stigma; (3) a rapidly expanding but uneven digital mental health landscape, in which SMS-based and CHW-mediated platforms achieve substantially greater reach than smartphone-dependent tools; and (4) significant structural, cultural, and policy barriers constraining scale-up. The effectiveness of digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) varies by modality, population, and setting, and is not a single generalizable finding.
CONCLUSION: The mental health burden in the Global South is growing faster than existing systems can address. Transformative progress requires sustained investment in CHW-mediated digital tools, culturally co-designed platforms, decolonized research partnerships, and mental health policies that center Global South communities as co-producers of their own mental health futures.
OBJECTIVE: This systematic review identified, appraised, and synthesized gray literature evidence on (1) the growing mental health burden across Global South regions (2015-2025); (2) digital technology responses in Global South LMIC contexts; and (3) policy, cultural, and community-based factors shaping mental health transformation efforts.
METHODS: A pre-registered systematic gray literature review spanned five source tiers. Following systematic screening and AACODS quality appraisal, 140 records published between 2015 and 2025 were included.
RESULTS: Four themes emerged: (1) an accelerating, structurally driven mental health burden across Global South regions; (2) a severe and entrenched treatment gap sustained by chronic underinvestment, workforce shortages, and stigma; (3) a rapidly expanding but uneven digital mental health landscape, in which SMS-based and CHW-mediated platforms achieve substantially greater reach than smartphone-dependent tools; and (4) significant structural, cultural, and policy barriers constraining scale-up. The effectiveness of digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) varies by modality, population, and setting, and is not a single generalizable finding.
CONCLUSION: The mental health burden in the Global South is growing faster than existing systems can address. Transformative progress requires sustained investment in CHW-mediated digital tools, culturally co-designed platforms, decolonized research partnerships, and mental health policies that center Global South communities as co-producers of their own mental health futures.