Abstract

Background:
In Zambia, mental health services are often limited, and a significant portion of the population lacks access to adequate care (Lund et al., 2018). The majority (60%) of Zambia’s inhabitants are young people below 25 years (Zambia Statistics Agency, 2020). Zambia has experienced significant growth in mobile technology usage, with an increasing number of adolescents and young people owning smartphones (Chibale, 2020).
Methods:
Systematic search of articles was carried out from different database from 2010 to February 2023 across different databases. The PICO guidelines, PRISMA flow diagram and Providence software were used in identifying relevant studies which were assessed. A total of 16 studies was finally included in the review.
Results:
Mobile phone penetration provides a unique opportunity to leverage technology to improve access to mental health services. This can minimize the stigma associated with seeking help for mental health services. While mobile technology presents a significant opportunity, challenges related to internet connectivity and affordability were noted as challenges in enhancing access to mental health services using mobile technology (Ngoma et al., 2020). The major barrier to use of technology found was the compromised privacy in the use of mobile technology (Huckvale et al., 2019).
Conclusions:
There is need to address the key barriers to enjoy the benefits that comes with improved access to mobile technological applications in Zambia, if innovations such as use of mobile technology to improve access to mental health services are to succeed. This paper recommends addressing the data protection as the major challenge.