Design of a Game-Based Training Environment to Enhance Mental Healthcare Professionals’ Skills in Using eMental Health: a User Requirements Analysis (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce Bierbooms ◽  
Milou A Feijt ◽  
Wijnand A IJsselsteijn ◽  
Inge MB Bongers
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Requirements Analysis ◽  
User Requirements ◽  
Multiple Methods ◽  
Training Environment ◽  
Serious Gaming ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Design Project ◽  
Target User

BACKGROUND A major factor hampering the adoption of technology in mental healthcare appears to be a lack of knowledge and skills. Serious gaming offers a potentially effective strategy to enhance the needed skills through experiencing and learning-by-doing in a playful way. Serious gaming solutions are however not widely available in mental healthcare. The development of a game-based training environment in mental healthcare was therefore pursued in a design project. The first step in such a design project is to identify the user requirements that should be met. OBJECTIVE This research aims to deliver the user requirements that inform the design of a game-based training environment for mental healthcare professionals to enhance their knowledge and skills regarding the use of eMental Health. METHODS We used an exploratory multiple methods design consisting of a an online questionnaire, co-design sessions, and interviews. To ensure a good representation of the target user group for each data collection method, professionals from various disciplines within mental healthcare were included in the research. The multiple methods design facilitates a broad view of user needs and in-depth knowledge of specific design requirements. We described the protocol for this research project in a protocol paper, which was published in JMIR Research Protocols in February 2021. RESULTS The user requirement analysis revealed three types of users for the envisioned game-based training environment: mental healthcare professionals that want to learn about the basic possibilities of eMental Health, mental healthcare professionals that want to develop their eMental Health skills to a next level, and mental healthcare professionals that want to learn and experiment with new technologies. This reflects the diversity of needs that were identified, as well as the need to develop a diversity of suitable scenarios in the environment. The user requirements analysis also show that the focus of a training environment should be on increasing knowledge about the possibilities of eMental Health in a broader sense, experiencing the benefits in particular situations and building confidence to use eMental Health in a therapeutic setting. This requires a careful consideration of which game characteristics are suitable. CONCLUSIONS To improve mental healthcare professionals’ skills in eMental Health requires an environment that is user driven and flexible, and at the same time incorporates the contextual factors that are relevant for its implementation in practice. This user requirements analysis contributes to the understanding of the issues that should be taken into account in the development of a game-based training environment by showing that ‘the’ mental healthcare professional does not exist. The various client populations, services and situations demand a variety of options for training. CLINICALTRIAL N/A.

scholarly journals The design of a game-based training environment to enhance health care professionals’ skills in using eMental health: study protocol for the user requirements analysis (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce JPA Bierbooms ◽  
Wouter RJW Sluis-Thiescheffer ◽  
Milou A Feijt ◽  
Wijnand A IJsselsteijn ◽  
Inge MB Bongers
Keyword(s):  
Study Protocol ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Requirements Analysis ◽  
User Requirements ◽  
Good Representation ◽  
Training Environment ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Organizational Conditions

BACKGROUND eMental health offers various possibilities for mental healthcare delivery, with many studies demonstrating its clinical efficacy. However, the uptake of eMental health technologies by mental healthcare professionals remains low. One of the reasons for this is the lack of knowledge and skills in using these technologies. Skill enhancement by means of serious gaming has shown to be effective in other areas already, but has not yet been applied to developing eMental health skills of mental healthcare professionals. OBJECTIVE The objective of this paper is to describe a study protocol for the user requirements analysis for the design of a game-based training environment for mental healthcare professionals to enhance their skills in eMental health. METHODS The user requirements are formulated using three complementary outputs: personas (lively descriptions of potential users), scenarios (situations that require eMental health skills), and prerequisites (required technical and organizational conditions). We collected the data by using a questionnaire, co-design sessions, and interviews. The questionnaire was used to determine mental healthcare professionals’ characteristics, attitudes and skill levels regarding eMental health and was distributed among mental healthcare professionals in the Netherlands. This led to a number of recognizable (sub) user groups as the basis for personas. Co-design sessions with mental healthcare professionals resulted in a further specification of the personas and an identification of different user scenarios for the game-based training environment. Interviews with mental healthcare professionals helped to determine the preferences of mental healthcare professionals regarding training in eMental health, as well as the technical and organizational conditions required for the prospective game-based training environment to be used in practice. This combination of requirements elicitation methods allows for a good representation of the target population in terms of both a broad view of user needs (through the large N questionnaire) as well as an in-depth understanding of specific design requirements (through interviews and co-design). RESULTS The questionnaire was filled out by 432 respondents. Three co-design sessions with mental healthcare professionals and 17 interviews were held. The data has been analyzed and a full paper on the results is expected to be submitted in the first half of 2021. CONCLUSIONS To develop an environment that can effectively support professionals’ eMental Health skill development, it is important to offer training possibilities that address the specific needs of mental healthcare professionals. The approach as described in this protocol incorporates the elements that enable the design of a playful training environment that is user-driven and flexible, and considers the technical and organizational prerequisites that influence its implementation in practice. It describes a protocol that is replicable and that provides a methodology for user requirements analyses in other projects and healthcare areas. CLINICALTRIAL

scholarly journals Can Chatbots Help Support a Person’s Mental Health? Perceptions and Views from Mental Healthcare Professionals and Experts

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Colm Sweeney ◽  
Courtney Potts ◽  
Edel Ennis ◽  
Raymond Bond ◽  
Maurice D. Mulvenna ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
User Interfaces ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Health Perceptions ◽  
Human Emotion ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Perceived Importance

The objective of this study was to understand the attitudes of professionals who work in mental health regarding the use of conversational user interfaces, or chatbots, to support people’s mental health and wellbeing. This study involves an online survey to measure the awareness and attitudes of mental healthcare professionals and experts. The findings from this survey show that more than half of the participants in the survey agreed that there are benefits associated with mental healthcare chatbots (65%, p < 0.01). The perceived importance of chatbots was also relatively high (74%, p < 0.01), with more than three-quarters (79%, p < 0.01) of respondents agreeing that mental healthcare chatbots could help their clients better manage their own health, yet chatbots are overwhelmingly perceived as not adequately understanding or displaying human emotion (86%, p < 0.01). Even though the level of personal experience with chatbots among professionals and experts in mental health has been quite low, this study shows that where they have been used, the experience has been mostly satisfactory. This study has found that as years of experience increased, there was a corresponding increase in the belief that healthcare chatbots could help clients better manage their own mental health.

scholarly journals Vignette research on messy and confusing problems in primary mental healthcare

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 300-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. H. (Dineke) Smit ◽  
J. J. L. (Jan) Derksen
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Complex Dynamic ◽  
Negative Feedback Loops ◽  
Norms And Values ◽  
The Family ◽  
Mixed Feelings ◽  
Working Together

The average primary care psychologist feels an ever-widening gap between objective, measurable reality as described and the complex and dynamic reality they experience. To obtain a better understanding of this complex dynamic reality, we conducted an exploratory mixed-method study of primary care psychologists. We asked our participants to write vignettes about messy and confusing problems in the complex context of mental healthcare. We then examined the data in portions, exposed the patterns in the data, and subsequently analysed all in conjunction. The 113 vignettes showed experiences of psychologists dealing not only with the patient, but also with the family of the patient and/or employers, working together with other healthcare professionals, struggling with dilemmas and having mixed feelings. However, using the Cynafin Framework, 36% of the vignettes were still rated as simple. Was it because those vignettes contained fewer words (p = .006)? Or because it is difficult to grasp complexity when cause and effect are intertwined with emotions, norms and values? In the discussion, we suggest examining a complex dynamic system in terms of both the consistency of its various elements and the dynamics of the system. We also discuss how to optimize the system’s adaptive self-organizing ability and how to challenge ourselves to invent negative feedback loops that can keep the complex system in equilibrium.

scholarly journals Gamified Cognitive Control Training for Remitted Depressed Individuals: User Requirements Analysis

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasmien Vervaeke ◽  
Jan Van Looy ◽  
Kristof Hoorelbeke ◽  
Chris Baeken ◽  
Ernst HW Koster
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Requirements Analysis ◽  
User Requirements ◽  
Cognitive Control Training

scholarly journals Depressive Symptoms, Help-Seeking, and Barriers to Mental Healthcare Among Healthcare Professionals in Lithuania

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Daniel Rogoža ◽  
Robertas Strumila ◽  
Eglė Klivickaitė ◽  
Edgaras Diržius ◽  
Neringa Čėnaitė
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Patient Health

Background: Previous research suggests that healthcare professionals (HCPs) experience high levels of work-related psychological distress, including depressive symptoms. Due to the stigma of mental health problems and other barriers, HCPs are likely to be hesitant to seek appropriate mental healthcare. We aimed to explore these phenomena among HCPs in Lithuania.Methods: A web survey inquiring about depressive symptoms, help-seeking, and barriers to mental healthcare was conducted. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). 601 complete questionnaires were included in the analyses. The barriers to help-seeking were identified using the inductive content analysis approach. Descriptive, non-parametric, and robust statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software.Results: Most of the respondents have reported depression-like symptoms over the lifetime, although only about a third of them sought professional help. Of those, roughly half preferred a private specialist. The stigma and neglect of mental health problems were the most common barriers to help-seeking. Around half of the HCPs believed that seeking mental healthcare can imperil their occupational license. About a quarter of the HCPs screened positive for clinically relevant depressive symptoms. Statistically significant differences in the PHQ-9 score were found between categories of healthcare specialty, marital status, religious beliefs, workplace, and years of work as a HCP. Fewer years of work and younger age were associated with the higher PHQ-9 score.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that HCPs in Lithuania may be inclined not to seek appropriate mental healthcare and experience poor mental health, although stronger evidence is needed to verify these findings. 

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document