Developing an explanatory theoretical model for engagement with a web-based mental health platform: results of a mixed methods study

BMC Psychiatry

Lianne Jeffs¹  Marianne Saragosa²  Charlene Soobiah²  Jennifer Hensel³  Dara Gordon⁴  James Shaw⁴  Laura Desveaux⁴  Sacha Bhatia⁴  Zachary Bouck⁵ 

[1] Sinai Health System, 1 Bridgepoint Dr, M4M 2B5, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;Women’s College Hospital, Institute of Health System Solutions and Virtual Care, 76 Grenville St, M5S 1B2, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;Women’s College Hospital, Institute of Health System Solutions and Virtual Care, 76 Grenville St, M5S 1B2, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;University of Manitoba, 66 Chancellors Cir, R3T 2N2, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada;Women’s College Hospital, Institute of Health System Solutions and Virtual Care, 76 Grenville St, M5S 1B2, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;University of Toronto, 155 College St, M5T 1P8, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;Women’s College Hospital, Institute of Health System Solutions and Virtual Care, 76 Grenville St, M5S 1B2, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;University of Toronto, 155 College St, M5T 1P8, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;St. Michael’s Hospital, 30 Bond St, M5B 1W8, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;

关键词: Mental health;    Virtual care;    Depression;    Anxiety;    Digital health;    Web-based;    Mixed-method;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12888-021-03391-z

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundWith the growing need for accessible, high-quality mental health services, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been increasing development and uptake of web-based interventions in the form of self-directed mental health platforms. The Big White Wall (BWW) is a web-based platform for people experiencing mental illness and addiction that offers a range of evidence-based self-directed treatment strategies. Drawing on existing data from a large-scale evaluation of the implementation of BWW in Ontario, Canada (which involved a pragmatic randomized controlled trail with an embedded qualitative process evaluation), we sought to investigate the influences on the extent to which people engage with BWW.MethodsIn this paper we drew on BWW trial participants’ usage data (number of logins) and the qualitative data from the process evaluation that explored participants’ experiences, engagement with and reactions to BWW.ResultsOur results showed that there were highly complex relationships between the influences that contributed to the level of engagement with BWW intervention. We found that a) how people expected to benefit from using a platform like BWW was an important indicator of their future usage, b) moderate perceived symptoms were linked with higher engagement; whereas fewer actual depressive symptoms predicted use and anxiety had a positive linear relationship with usage, and that c) usage depended on positive early experiences with the platform.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the nature of engagement with platforms such as BWW is not easily predicted. We propose a theoretical framework for explaining the level of user engagement with BWW that might also be generalizable to other similar platforms.

【 授权许可】

CC BY