The helpfulness of web-based mental health and wellbeing forums for providing peer support for young people: A cross-sectional exploration (Preprint)

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Banwell ◽  
Terry Hanley ◽  
Santiago De Ossorno Garcia ◽  
Charlotte Mindel ◽  
Thomas Kayll ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Peer Support ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Experience Measure

BACKGROUND Young people are increasingly going online to seek out web-based support for their mental health and wellbeing. Peer support forums are popular with this age group, with young individuals valuing the fact that they are available 24/7, providing a safe and anonymous space for exploration. Currently, little systematic evaluation of the helpfulness of such groups in providing support has been conducted. OBJECTIVE This study examines the helpfulness of the support offered within web-based peer support forums for young people. It specifically investigates the self-reported user-ratings of helpfulness reported through the completion of a developing experience measure. The ratings are used to consider the further development of the measure and to reflect upon the overall helpfulness of the forums as indicated by the reported scores. METHODS The study makes use of routinely collected practice-based outcome data from online mental health forums for young people. These forums are hosted by the UK based web-based therapy and support service, Kooth.com. A cross-sectional design has been employed to explore the outcomes that have been reported by those accessing the forums using a Peer Online Community Experience Measure (POCEM). To consider the helpfulness in general, a total of 23,443 completed POCEMs from the 2020 calendar year were used. A second dataset of 17,137 completed POCEMs from the same year was used to consider whether other indicators, such as the time of day of the post, had an impact upon the helpfulness rating. RESULTS Female users between the ages of 11 and 16 predominantly completed the POCEM. This is in keeping with the majority of those using the service. 74.6% of the scores on the POCEM indicated the individuals found the posts helpful, and there was some indication that males were more likely to report obtaining intrapersonal support, whilst females obtained interpersonal support. Further, the POCEM scores reflected the internal consistency of the measure and provided an insight into the way that young people made use of the peer support resource. For instance, posts were rated more helpful if individuals spent a longer time reading them, and the topics discussed changed throughout the day with more mental health issues being discussed later at night. CONCLUSIONS The results appear to demonstrate that overall, the young people involved in this study found web-based peer support helpful. They indicate that that peer support can provide an important strand of care within a supportive mental health ecosystem, particularly during time periods when in-person support is typically closed. However, caution is needed when interpreting the results of this study. Whilst such services are incredibly well used, they have received little research attention to date. As such, further investigation into what constitutes helpful and unhelpful peer support is needed.

scholarly journals POS1321 MENTAL HEALTH SCREENING IN PATIENTS WITH JUVENILE IDIOPATHIC ARTHRITIS

2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 943.1-943
Author(s):  
S. Eulert ◽  
M. Niewerth ◽  
J. Hörstermann ◽  
C. Sengler ◽  
D. Windschall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Functional Limitations ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Health Screening ◽  
Mental Health Screening ◽  
Psychological Support ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Patient Health

Background:Mental disorders often begin in the vulnerable phase of adolescence and young adulthood. Young people with chronic diseases are particularly at risk. Early recognition of mental health problems is necessary in order to be able to support those affected in a timely and adequate manner. By implementing a web-based generic screening tool for mental health in routine care, patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and mental health conditions can be identified and provided with targeted treatment.Objectives:To investigate the prevalence of mental health conditions in young people with JIA in routine rheumatology care.Methods:Mental health screening is implemented as an add-on module to the National Paediatric Rheumatology Database (NPRD). The current data was gathered over a period of 24 months. Patients complete the screening tool which includes the Patient Health Questionnaire1 (PHQ-9, score 0-27) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale2 (GAD-7, score 0-21) via a web-based questionnaire. The cut-off for critical values in PHQ-9 and GAD-7 were defined as values ≥ 10. Simultaneously, other data, such as sociodemographic data, disease activity (cJADAS10, score 0-30), functional status (CHAQ, score 0-3) were collected as well.Results:The analysis included 245 patients (75% female) with a mean age of 15.7 years and a mean disease duration of 8.8 years. 38.8% of the patients had oligoarthritis (18.0% OA, persistent/20.8% OA, extended) and 23.3% RF negative polyarthritis. At the time of documentation 49 patients (30.6%) had an inactive disease (cJADAS10 ≤ 1) and 120 (49.4%) no functional limitations (CHAQ = 0). In total, 53 patients (21.6%) had screening values in either GAD-7 or PHD-9 ≥10. Patients with critical mental health screening values showed higher disease activity and more frequent functional limitations than inconspicuous patients (cJADAS10 (mean ± SD): 9.3 ± 6 vs. 4.9 ± 4.9; CHAQ: 0.66 ± 0.6 vs. 0.21 ± 0.42). When compared to males, females were significantly more likely to report either depression or anxiety symptoms (11.7% vs. 24.9%, p = 0.031).17.6% of all patients with valid items for these data reported to receive psychological support, meaning psychotherapeutic support (14.5%) and/or drug therapy (8.6%). Among those with a critical mental health screening score, 38.7% received psychological support (psychotherapeutic support (35.5%) and/or drug therapy (16.1%)).Conclusion:Every fifth young person with JIA reported mental health problems, however, not even every second of them stated to receive psychological support. The results show that screening for mental health problems during routine adolescent rheumatology care is necessary to provide appropriate and targeted support services to young people with a high burden of illness.References:[1]Löwe B, Unützer J, Callahan CM, Perkins AJ, Kroenke K. Monitoring depression treatment outcomes with the patient health questionnaire-9. Med Care. 2004 Dec;42(12):1194-201.[2]Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JB, Löwe B. A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. Arch Intern Med. 2006 May 22; 166(10):1092-7.[3]The screening data were collected as part of COACH (Conditions in Adolescents: Implementation and Evaluation of Patient-centred Collaborative Healthcare), a project supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (FKZ: 01GL1740F).Disclosure of Interests:Sascha Eulert: None declared, Martina Niewerth: None declared, Jana Hörstermann: None declared, Claudia Sengler: None declared, Daniel Windschall: None declared, Tilmann Kallinich: None declared, Jürgen Grulich-Henn: None declared, Frank Weller-Heinemann Consultant of: Pfizer, Abbvie, Sobi, Roche, Novartis, Ivan Foeldvari Consultant of: Gilead, Novartis, Pfizer, Hexal, BMS, Sanofi, MEDAC, Sandra Hansmann: None declared, Harald Baumeister: None declared, Reinhard Holl: None declared, Doris Staab: None declared, Kirsten Minden: None declared

scholarly journals Is empowerment a route to improving mental health and wellbeing in an urban regeneration (UR) context?

Urban Studies ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 1619-1637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Baba ◽  
Ade Kearns ◽  
Emma McIntosh ◽  
Carol Tannahill ◽  
James Lewsey
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Urban Regeneration ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Empowerment ◽  
Health Improvement ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Health Gains

Urban regeneration (UR) programmes are recognised as a type of Population Health Intervention (PHI), addressing social and health inequalities. Policy recommends programmes involve communities through engagement and empowerment. Whilst the literature has started to link empowerment with health improvement, this has not been within an UR context. As part of broader research on the economic evaluation of community empowerment activities, this paper examines how health gains can be generated through promoting empowerment as well as identifying whether feelings of empowerment are associated with residents personal characteristics or perceptions of their neighbourhood. Using 2011 Community Health and Wellbeing Survey (GoWell) cross-sectional data, ordinal logistic regression and simple linear regression analysis of 15 Glasgow neighbourhoods undergoing regeneration with 4302 adult householders (≥16 years old) was completed. Analyses identified strong associations ( P≥ 0.05) between empowerment and the mental health subscale of the SF12v2 and with several items of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) scale. Furthermore, residents’ who felt more empowered reported more positive attitudes towards their surroundings and housing providers. This concurs with recent evidence of the importance of residents’ psychological investments in their neighbourhood influencing their sense of place attachment. Such analyses present initial evidence of the value of investing resources within UR programmes to activities geared towards increasing residents’ empowerment as a means of producing those health gains often sought by more costly aspects of the programmes.

Mental Health and Endocrine Telemedicine Consultations in Transgender Subjects During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Italy: A Cross-Sectional Web-Based Survey

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Gava ◽  
Alessandra Daphne Fisher ◽  
Stefania Alvisi ◽  
Ilaria Mancini ◽  
Alessandro Franceschelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Web Based

Crohn's and colitis: New research offers insights into caring for young people

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
pp. 217-218
Author(s):  
Pamela Qualter ◽  
Bernie Carter
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Inflammatory Bowel Disease ◽  
Young People ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Bowel Disease ◽  
Disease Symptoms ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Close Friendships ◽  
Inflammatory Bowel ◽  
New Research

The unpredictable nature of inflammatory bowel disease symptoms and stigma can affect young people's ability to form close friendships and affect their social interactions. New research shows the importance of addressing the mental health and wellbeing of young people with Crohn's disease and colitis.

scholarly journals Digital exclusion predicts worse mental health among adolescents during COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Metherell ◽  
Sakshi Ghai ◽  
Ethan M. McCormick ◽  
Tamsin J. Ford ◽  
Amy Orben
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Adolescent Mental Health ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Internet Connection ◽  
University Of Cambridge ◽  
Digital Exclusion

AbstractBackgroundSocial isolation is strongly associated with poor mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing social restrictions disrupted young people’s social interactions and resulted in several periods during which school closures necessitated online learning. We hypothesise that digitally excluded young people would demonstrate greater deterioration in their mental health than their digitally connected peers during this time.MethodsWe analysed representative mental health data from a sample of UK 10–15-year-olds (N = 1387); Understanding Society collected the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in 2017-19 and thrice during the pandemic (July 2020, November 2020 and March 2021). We employed cross-sectional methods and longitudinal latent growth curve modelling to describe trajectories of adolescent mental health for participants with and without access to a computer or a good internet connection for schoolwork.OutcomesAdolescent mental health had a quadratic trajectory during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the highest mean Total Difficulties score around December 2020. The worsening and recovery of mental health during the pandemic was greatly pronounced among those without access to a computer, although we did not find evidence for a similar effect among those without a good internet connection.InterpretationDigital exclusion, as indicated by lack of access to a computer, is a tractable risk factor that likely compounds other adversities facing children and young people during periods of social isolation.FundingBritish Psychological Society; School of the Biological Sciences, University of Cambridge; NIHR Applied Research Centre; Medical Research Council; Economic and Social Research Council; and Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge.

scholarly journals The Session Wants and Need Outcome Measure: The Development of a Brief Outcome Measure for Single-Sessions of Web-Based Support

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago de Ossorno Garcia ◽  
Louisa Salhi ◽  
Aaron Sefi ◽  
Terry Hanley
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Outcome Measure ◽  
Brief Interventions ◽  
Face Validity ◽  
Single Session ◽  
Framework Analysis ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Mental Health Settings

Single-session, brief interventions in therapy for young people make up a large proportion of service provision, including in digital mental health settings. Current nomothetic mental health measures are not specifically designed to capture the benefit or ‘change’ directly related to these brief interventions. As a consequence, we set out to design an outcome measure to concretely demonstrate the value of single-session interventions. The Session Wants and Needs Outcome Measure (SWAN-OM) aims to capture in-session goals and focuses on being user-centric, elements critical to the success of single-session and brief interventions which typically are asset-based and solution-focused. We describe the 4-stage process that was followed to develop this measure: (I) classical item generation and development, (II) content and (III) face validity pilot testing, and (IV) a user-experience approach with young people using framework analysis. This final stage was critical to ensure the integration of this outcome tool into a web-based digital therapy setting, a context which adds another layer of design complexity to item and measure development. This iterative methodology was used to overcome the challenges encountered and to place the needs of the young people and service practitioners at the centre of the design process, thus ensuring measure usability. To end, we highlight the main lessons learnt from engaging in this design process. Specifically, the needs of a measure for single-session interventions are considered, before outlining the learning associated with integrating the measure into a digital mental health platform. Both of these areas are emerging fields and, as such, this study contributes to our understanding of how an idiographic patient outcome theory driven measure can be created for use in a web-based digital mental health therapy service.

scholarly journals Initial Training for Mental Health Peer Support Workers: Systematized Review and International Delphi Consultation (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashleigh Charles ◽  
Rebecca Nixdorf ◽  
Nashwa Ibrahim ◽  
Lion Gai Meir ◽  
Richard S Mpango ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Peer Support ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Initial Training ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Systematized Review ◽  
Strong Consensus ◽  
Support Work ◽  
Peer Support Work

BACKGROUND Initial training is essential for the mental health peer support worker (PSW) role. Training needs to incorporate recent advances in digital peer support and the increase of peer support work roles internationally. There is a lack of evidence on training topics that are important for initial peer support work training and on which training topics can be provided on the internet. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to establish consensus levels about the content of initial training for mental health PSWs and the extent to which each identified topic can be delivered over the internet. METHODS A systematized review was conducted to identify a preliminary list of training topics from existing training manuals. Three rounds of Delphi consultation were then conducted to establish the importance and web-based deliverability of each topic. In round 1, participants were asked to rate the training topics for importance, and the topic list was refined. In rounds 2 and 3, participants were asked to rate each topic for importance and the extent to which they could be delivered over the internet. RESULTS The systematized review identified 32 training manuals from 14 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These were synthesized to develop a preliminary list of 18 topics. The Delphi consultation involved 110 participants (49 PSWs, 36 managers, and 25 researchers) from 21 countries (14 high-income, 5 middle-income, and 2 low-income countries). After the Delphi consultation (round 1: n=110; round 2: n=89; and round 3: n=82), 20 training topics (18 universal and 2 context-specific) were identified. There was a strong consensus about the importance of five topics: <i>lived experience as an asset</i>, <i>ethics</i>, <i>PSW well-being</i>, and <i>PSW role focus on recovery</i> and <i>communication</i>, with a moderate consensus for all other topics apart from the <i>knowledge of mental health</i>. There was no clear pattern of differences among PSW, manager, and researcher ratings of importance or between responses from participants in countries with different resource levels. All training topics were identified with a strong consensus as being deliverable through blended web-based and face-to-face training (rating 1) or fully deliverable on the internet with moderation (rating 2), with none identified as only deliverable through face-to-face teaching (rating 0) or deliverable fully on the web as a stand-alone course without moderation (rating 3). CONCLUSIONS The 20 training topics identified can be recommended for inclusion in the curriculum of initial training programs for PSWs. Further research on web-based delivery of initial training is needed to understand the role of web-based moderation and whether web-based training better prepares recipients to deliver web-based peer support. CLINICALTRIAL

scholarly journals Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Psychological Distress of Medical Students in Japan: Cross-sectional Survey Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshito Nishimura ◽  
Kanako Ochi ◽  
Kazuki Tokumasu ◽  
Mikako Obika ◽  
Hideharu Hagiya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Subjective Mental Health

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected medical education. However, little data are available about medical students’ distress during the pandemic. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to provide details on how medical students have been affected by the pandemic. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 717 medical students participated in the web-based survey. The survey included questions about how the participants’ mental status had changed from before to after the Japanese nationwide state of emergency (SOE). RESULTS Out of 717 medical students, 473 (66.0%) participated in the study. In total, 29.8% (141/473) of the students reported concerns about the shift toward online education, mostly because they thought online education would be ineffective compared with in-person learning. The participants’ subjective mental health status significantly worsened after the SOE was lifted (<i>P</i>&lt;.001). Those who had concerns about a shift toward online education had higher odds of having generalized anxiety and being depressed (odds ratio [OR] 1.97, 95% CI 1.19-3.28) as did those who said they would request food aid (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.16-3.44) and mental health care resources (OR 3.56, 95% CI 2.07-6.15). CONCLUSIONS Given our findings, the sudden shift to online education might have overwhelmed medical students. Thus, we recommend that educators inform learners that online learning is not inferior to in-person learning, which could attenuate potential depression and anxiety.

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