The Use of ICTs and Mental Healthcare Service Provision during Covid-19 and the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon

Abstract

Mental health professionals especially those working in the Northwest and Southwest communities in Cameroon are confronted with a plethora of challenges that impinge on their service delivery. Today, the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) has the potential to improve the provision of mental healthcare services through greater access and coverage, effectiveness and efficiency, and quality. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of ICT utilization on mental healthcare service provision in the Northwest and Southwest communities of Cameroon during Covid-19 pandemic and the Anglophone Crisis. More specifically, the study sought to ascertain the extent to which computer utilization, and internet utilization affects mental healthcare service provision. The employed the survey research design with a mix of both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Quantitative data was collected through questionnaires while a semi-structured interview guide and an observational checklist was used to obtain qualitative data from a sample of 150 mental healthcare workers. Data was analyzed with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 for Windows. Descriptive statistics such as simple percentages, mean scores and standard deviation, and inferential statistics such as the one sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA’s F-test) and the Pearson Correlation test were used to analyze quantitative data while qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis with the support of ATLAS.ti software version 8.0. Based on the findings, recommendations were made to mental healthcare trainers who were advised to make efforts to effectively use information and communication technologies to improve the quality and effectiveness of mental healthcare services in Cameroon secondary schools.