Exploring university staff experiences gained during COVID-19 in the provision of digital mental health services through e-health tools: A case of a selected South African University

Abstract

The recent COVID-19 pandemic significantly exacerbated mental health issues worldwide, with South African university staff facing unique stressors that led to the adoption of e-health tools for digital mental health services. This study explores the university staff experiences gained during COVID-19 pandemic in the provision of digital mental health services through e-health tools. We conducted a case study at a public university in Cape Town, South Africa complemented by a survey using quantitative methods. Data from 348 respondents were collected via voluntary response sampling and analysed with Statistical Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 28, employing exploratory factor analysis. High factor loadings above 0.4 confirmed significant contributions from seven items: perceived usefulness of e-health tools, perceived usefulness of social media, user experience and satisfaction, university commitment, variety of digital mental health services, post-COVID-19 delivery mode preference and ethical considerations. These seven items revealed that during COVID-19, e-health tools provided significant benefits to university staff including increased access to digital mental services. However, the study findings revealed that university staff were concerned about the lack of a legal framework during COVID-19, and the role of AI-powered mental health applications did not significantly influence their experiences during the pandemic. Our study provides theoretical insights into the effectiveness and perceived usefulness of e-health tools for digital mental health services during COVID-19, reinforcing their significance in reducing anxiety, stress, and depression while enhancing emotional resilience. Practically, our study findings suggest that universities should integrate e-health tools into the provision of digital mental health services given that these tools proved effective during COVID-19.

Keywords: {'name': 'e-health tools, digital mental health services, technology adoption; COVID-19, South Africa'}

Authors & affiliations

Rhodrick Nyasha Musakuro
Affiliation not supplied

Liiza Gie
Affiliation not supplied

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