Forchuk Cheryl, Reiss Jeffrey P, O'Regan Tony, Ethridge Paige, Donelle Lorie, Rudnick Abraham
Lawson Health Research Institute, 750 Baseline Road East, London, ON, Canada.
Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
BMC Psychiatry. 2015 Oct 14;15:250. doi: 10.1186/s12888-015-0614-7.
Information technologies such as websites, mobile phone applications, and virtual reality programs have been shown to deliver innovative and effective treatments for mental illness. Much of the research studying electronic mental health interventions focuses on symptom reduction; however, to facilitate the implementation of electronic interventions in usual mental health care, it is also important to investigate the perceptions of clients who will be using the technologies. To this end, a qualitative analysis of focus group discussions regarding the Mental Health Engagement Network, a web-based personal health record and smartphone intervention, is presented here.
Individuals living in the community with a mood or psychotic disorder (n = 394) were provided with a smartphone and access to an electronic personal health record, the Lawson SMART Record, for 12 to 18 months to manage their mental health. This study employed a delayed-implementation design and obtained both quantitative and qualitative data through individual interviews and focus group sessions. Participants had the opportunity to participate in voluntary focus group sessions at three points throughout the study to discuss their perceptions of the technologies. Qualitative data from 95 focus group participants were analysed using a thematic analysis.
Four overarching themes emerged from focus group discussions: 1) Versatile functionality of the Lawson SMART Record and smartphone facilitated use; 2) Aspects of the technologies as barriers to use; 3) Use of the Mental health Engagement Network technologies resulted in perceived positive outcomes; 4) Future enhancement of the Lawson SMART Record and intervention is recommended.
These qualitative data provide a valuable contribution to the understanding of how smarttechnologies can be integrated into usual mental health care. Smartphones are extremely portable andcommonplace in society. Therefore, clients can use these devices to manage and track mental health issuesin any place at almost any time without feeling stigmatized.
Assessing clients' perspectives regarding the use of smart technologies in mental health care provides an invaluable addition to the current literature. Qualitative findings support the feasibility of implementing a smartphone and electronic personal health record intervention with individuals who are living in the community and experiencing a mental illness, and provide considerations for future development and implementation.
诸如网站、手机应用程序和虚拟现实程序等信息技术已被证明能为精神疾病提供创新且有效的治疗方法。许多研究电子心理健康干预措施的研究都聚焦于症状减轻；然而，为了促进电子干预措施在常规心理健康护理中的实施，调查将使用这些技术的客户的看法也很重要。为此，本文呈现了对关于心理健康参与网络（一个基于网络的个人健康记录和智能手机干预措施）的焦点小组讨论的定性分析。
为居住在社区中患有情绪或精神障碍的个体（n = 394）提供一部智能手机，并让他们使用电子个人健康记录“劳森智能记录”12至18个月来管理他们的心理健康。本研究采用延迟实施设计，并通过个人访谈和焦点小组会议获取定量和定性数据。参与者有机会在研究过程中的三个时间点参加自愿焦点小组会议，以讨论他们对这些技术的看法。对95名焦点小组参与者的定性数据进行了主题分析。
焦点小组讨论中出现了四个总体主题：1）劳森智能记录和智能手机的多功能性促进了使用；2）技术方面成为使用的障碍；3）使用心理健康参与网络技术带来了积极的结果；4）建议对劳森智能记录和干预措施进行未来改进。
这些定性数据为理解智能技术如何融入常规心理健康护理做出了宝贵贡献。智能手机极其便携且在社会中很常见。因此，客户可以使用这些设备在几乎任何时间、任何地点管理和跟踪心理健康问题，而不会感到有污名化。
评估客户对在心理健康护理中使用智能技术的看法为当前文献增添了宝贵内容。定性研究结果支持了对社区中患有精神疾病的个体实施智能手机和电子个人健康记录干预措施的可行性，并为未来的发展和实施提供了考虑因素。
