Perceived Effectiveness and Motivations for the Use of Web-Based Mental Health Programs: Qualitative Study

Area of Science:

• Mental Health
• Digital Health
• Psychology

Background:

• Depression prevalence remains high despite increased research and treatment.
• Barriers to traditional mental health services necessitate exploring alternative interventions.
• Web-based prevention methods offer a potential solution to mitigate access barriers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify perceived effective aspects of web-based mental health programs for individuals at high risk for depression.
• To understand motivators for individuals at high risk for depression to engage with web-based mental health programs.

Main Methods:

• Inductive content analysis of telephone interview data from 77 participants at high risk for depression.
• Participants were recruited from two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving web-based mental health programs (BroHealth and HardHat).

Main Results:

• Four categories of perceived effectiveness: awareness, program medium/functionality, content, and coaches.
• Five categories of motivators: reminders/incentives, promotion, medium/functionality, content, and perceived need.
• Some participants were unsure about motivators or believed none existed.

Conclusions:

• Web-based programs can enhance mental health awareness, especially with live coach access.
• Motivating initial use of web-based programs is difficult.
• Strategies like perceived need, promotion, incentives, and improved functionality may increase engagement.