PAMHoYA

Co-development of a Mental Health Data Discovery Platform and Harmonisation of Mental Health Measures for Young People in South Africa (PAMHoYA)

Background

In South Africa (SA), as in many other sub-Saharan African countries, the burden of mental health is disproportionately higher among young people. Beyond medical factors, young people in SA face high levels of persistent unemployment and poverty, non-decreasing historical and contemporary inequalities in education, employment, and health, and exposure to high levels of violence, and a quadruple burden of diseases, which are all risks for poor mental health. Despite this burden, the mental health data and data collection systems in SA remain fragmented and disparate, hampering the ability to monitor trends. This makes it harder to plan and deliver effective mental health services, leaving many young people without the support they need.

Objectives

This multidisciplinary multi-institutional project aims to co-develop an open-access, inclusive, and user-oriented mental health data platform (PAMHoYA) that pools and harmonises publicly available mental health data on young people aged 15–24 across South African sources, to advance mental health research, surveillance, and policy in SA. The specific objectives are to:

a) map and integrate available meta-data sources in SA containing information on depression and anxiety for 15 to 24-year-olds;

b) design the mental health data discovery platform;

c) harmonise the various mental health measures using Natural Language Processing; and

d) make harmonised datasets openly accessible via a data repository.

Methods

This project employs the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM), integrating a co-development approach to guide the design and implementation of a data harmonisation and discovery platform. DSRM emphasises the creation and evaluation of innovative artefacts that address identified problems while contributing both theoretical and practical value. In this project, the artefact will be a software system, specifically an online platform enabling the harmonisation and discovery of ethically approved, publicly available mental health metadata.

Mental health stakeholder engagement will be central to the platform's development. This will involve meetings, consultations, and workshops with the National Department of Health (NDoH), civil society organisations, mental health advocates, scientists, and individuals with lived experience of mental health conditions. Through co-development, also referred to as co-design or participatory research, stakeholders will contribute not as passive participants but as co-researchers or co-creators of knowledge, shaping research questions, data collection, and analysis, as well as informing subsequent actions arising from this project.

Expected outputs

We expect this collaborative project to deliver a contextually appropriate, user-oriented, and reliable platform that enhances discoverability, harmonisation, analysis, and interpretation of mental health data in South Africa. PAMHoYA will facilitate access to and synthesis of existing studies, support national estimates, highlight research gaps, and foster collaboration. The platform will also inform improvements in data systems, strengthen surveillance, guide intervention design, strengthen mental health policy, and support strategic resource allocation in SA.

Funding

The project is funded under the Mental Health Data Prize Africa, an initiative of the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) in partnership with Wellcome Trust (UK).

Collaborating institutions

South African Medical Research Council, Stellenbosch University, Sol Plaatje University, and University College London