Examining the Roles of Technology Across the Health Care Journey for Individuals With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:...

Area of Science:

• Digital mental health
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) research
• Health informatics

Background:

• Digital technologies are increasingly integrated into daily life, expanding their role in mental health care.
• Tools are being explored for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) across the care continuum, including symptom recognition, access, treatment, and self-management.
• Limited empirical understanding exists on how individuals with OCD use digital technologies in practice and their vision for future technology-enabled care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how individuals with OCD navigate their healthcare experiences using digital technologies.
• To understand the perceived roles of technology across the entire OCD care continuum.

Main Methods:

• Conducted semistructured interviews with 24 adults diagnosed with OCD, recruited via online communities.
• Utilized HIPAA-compliant Zoom for interviews, with transcripts coded using a constructivist grounded theory approach in Dedoose.
• Employed iterative coding, constant comparison, and analytic memos to develop a conceptual framework.

Main Results:

• Participants identified technology as integral to three aspects of their OCD healthcare journey: discovery/understanding, facilitating care, and envisioning future possibilities.
• Social media and online content aided symptom identification and care seeking.
• Digital tools like telehealth, apps, and wearables helped bridge care gaps, with participants expressing interest in adaptive, real-time symptom support technologies.

Conclusions:

• Digital technologies are transforming how individuals with OCD identify symptoms, engage in treatment, and perceive future care.
• Online communities, telehealth, and mobile health tools address barriers in OCD care, highlighting a need for technology that offers adaptive, real-time support.
• Findings emphasize incorporating lived experiences into digital mental health innovation for more continuous, personalized, and accessible OCD care models.