The four-tiered health system and help-seeking behaviour of young people in Mudzi district, Zimbabwe

Health service provision proved to be the responsibility of three providers-medical, traditional healers, and the church. The state of mental health in Zimbabwe is dire, with one in four mentally ill. The service provision from the medical side is in a sorry state with only nine mental hospitals with only two having psychiatrists. It was prudent to understand the help-seeking behaviour of young people concerning the various service providers. Young people cannot not seek help. The matter comes as to where they get the assistance. The church has a critical role in improving and maintaining the mental well-being of its young people. The church has instead remained divorced from the mental well-being of young people and concentrated on spirituality alone. Mudzi District proved to have a four-tiered health system instead of three-the social, medical, traditional, and spiritual.