scholarly journals Use of the Principles of Design Thinking to Address Limitations of Digital Mental Health Interventions for Youth: Viewpoint

10.2196/11528 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. e11528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanneke Scholten ◽  
Isabela Granic
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanneke Scholten ◽  
Isabela Granic

UNSTRUCTURED Numerous reviews and meta-analyses have indicated the enormous potential of technology to improve the appeal, effectiveness, cost, and reach of mental health interventions. However, the promise of digital mental health interventions for youth has not yet been realized. Significant challenges have been repeatedly identified, including engagement, fidelity, and the lack of personalization. We introduce the main tenets of design thinking and explain how they can specifically address these challenges, with an entirely new toolbox of mindsets and practices. In addition, we provide examples of a new wave of digital interventions to demonstrate the applicability of design thinking to a wide range of intervention goals. In the future, it will be critical for scientists and clinicians to implement their scientific standards, methods, and review outlets to evaluate the contribution of design thinking to the next iteration of digital mental health interventions for youth.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
J Rehn ◽  
E Chrysikou

Abstract   After the brief initial input presentations outlining relevant aspects such as the eco-psychosocial approach as well as facts regarding the context of the case study Crete, a co-creative multidisciplinary workshop is being facilitated that aims at developing concepts for early mental health prevention and treatment focusing on innovations in the built environment. Touchpoint inventory for urban public mental health offerings The key methodology of the workshop follows principles from experience design (Risbon et al., 2018) and service design (Stickdom et al., 2018) using the touchpoint inventory. The overall workshop is divided into two main phases. In the first phase participants will be divided into two groups. One of them will outline a chronological journey for early mental health interventions for stereotypical mentally ill person (e.g. preventive information, low threshold support groups, and so on). The second group will collect places and elements of the built environment that surf as a basis for interaction (”channels”) by which services for mental healthcare and prevention can be submitted (e.g. Shops, public places, coffee shops, libraries etc.). In the second phase, results of both groups will be collected using a spreadsheet. All participants are then asked to ideate concepts for “touchpoints” at the intersection of both groups of elements. These concepts can serve as a conceptual starting point for more comprehensive developments on design for early mental health interventions. References Risdon, C., Quattlebaum, P., Rettig, M. (2018) Orchestrating experiences. Collaborative design for complexity. Brooklyn, New York: Rosenfeld Media Stickdorn, M., Hormess, M., Lawrence, A., Schneider, J. (Hg.) (2018) This is service design doing. Applying service design thinking in the real world; a practitioners` handbook. First edition. Sebastapol, CA: O'Reilly


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amelia Gulliver ◽  
Alison L Calear ◽  
Matthew Sunderland ◽  
Frances Kay-Lambkin ◽  
Louise M Farrer ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Self-guided online mental health programs are effective in treating and preventing mental health problems. However, both the uptake and engagement with these programs in the community is suboptimal, and there is limited current evidence indicating how to increase the use of existing evidence-based programs. OBJECTIVE The current study aims to investigate the views of people with lived experience of depression and anxiety on the barriers and facilitators to using e-mental health interventions and to use these perspectives to help develop an engagement-facilitation intervention (EFI) to increase uptake and engagement with self-guided online mental health programs. METHODS A total of 24 community members (female = 21; male = 3) with lived experience of depression and/or anxiety participated in four focus groups that discussed: 1) barriers and facilitators to self-guided e-mental health programs, 2) specific details needed to help them decide to use an online program, and 3) the appearance, delivery mode, and functionality of content for the proposed EFI. A total of 14 of the focus group attendees participated in a subsequent follow-up survey to evaluate the resultant draft EFI. Data were thematically analysed using both inductive and deductive methods. RESULTS Participants suggested that the critical component of an EFI was information that would challenge personal barriers to engagement with psychosocial interventions. These were providing personalised feedback about symptoms, information about the content and effectiveness of the e-mental health program, normalisation of participation in e-mental health programs including testimonials, and brief information on data security. Reminders, rewards, feedback about their progress, and coaching were all mentioned as being useful in assisting people to continue to engage with a program once they had started. Feedback on the developed EFI was positive; with participants reporting satisfaction with the content of the EFI and that it would likely positively affect their use of an e-mental health program. CONCLUSIONS EFIs have the potential to improve the uptake of e-mental health programs in the community and should focus on providing information on the content and effectiveness of e-mental health programs, as well as normalising their use. There is strong value in involving people with a lived experience in the design and development of EFIs to maximise their effectiveness.


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