Post-COVID-19 Mental Health Counseling Access and Utilization in South African Communities

The global COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted mental health globally, with South Africa being no exception. A mixed-methods approach was employed, including a quantitative survey of 500 participants and qualitative interviews with 20 community leaders. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics for quantitative data and thematic analysis for qualitative data. The survey revealed that only 23% of respondents accessed mental health counseling services post-COVID-19, indicating low utilization rates. Post-COVID-19 mental health support in South African communities remains underutilized. Increased community awareness campaigns and improved access to affordable mental health services are recommended. COVID-19, Mental Health, Counseling Services, Utilization Rates, South Africa Treatment effect was estimated with logit(pᵢ)=β₀+β^ Xᵢ, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.