Feasibility and utility of mobile health interventions for depression and anxiety in rural populations: A scoping review
Despite the potential of mobile health (mHealth) to address high rates of depression and anxiety in underserved rural communities, most mHealth interventions do not explicitly consider the realities of rural life. The aim of this scoping review is to identify and examine the available literature on...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Internet Interventions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214782924000174 |
| _version_ | 1797277389006307328 |
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| author | Michael J. McCarthy Alexandra Wicker Juliette Roddy Mark Remiker Indrakshi Roy Megan McCoy Eric S. Cerino Julie Baldwin |
| author_facet | Michael J. McCarthy Alexandra Wicker Juliette Roddy Mark Remiker Indrakshi Roy Megan McCoy Eric S. Cerino Julie Baldwin |
| author_sort | Michael J. McCarthy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite the potential of mobile health (mHealth) to address high rates of depression and anxiety in underserved rural communities, most mHealth interventions do not explicitly consider the realities of rural life. The aim of this scoping review is to identify and examine the available literature on mHealth interventions that consider the needs of rural populations in order to gauge their feasibility and utility for addressing depression and anxiety. Additionally, we provide an overview of rural users' perceptions about and preferences for mHealth-delivered mental health screening and intervention systems. Out of 169 articles identified, 16 met inclusion criteria. Studies were conducted across a wide range of countries, age groups, and rural subpopulations including individuals with bipolar disorder, anxiety, perinatal depression, PTSD, and chronic pain, as well as refugees, veterans, and transgender and LGBTQ+ individuals. All interventions were in the feasibility/acceptability testing stage for rural users. Identified strengths included their simplicity, accessibility, convenience, availability of support between sessions with providers, and remote access to a care team. Weaknesses included problems with charging phone batteries and exceeding data limits, privacy concerns, and general lack of comfort with app-based support. Based upon this review, we provide recommendations for future mHealth intervention development including the value of developer-user coproduction methods, the need to consider user variation in access to and comfort with smartphones, and potential data or connectivity limitations, mental health stigma, and confidentiality concerns in rural communities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T15:46:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b74bac767ca34a29b4ff4f8c603999e9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2214-7829 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T15:46:47Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Internet Interventions |
| spelling | doaj.art-b74bac767ca34a29b4ff4f8c603999e92024-03-05T04:29:51ZengElsevierInternet Interventions2214-78292024-03-0135100724Feasibility and utility of mobile health interventions for depression and anxiety in rural populations: A scoping reviewMichael J. McCarthy0Alexandra Wicker1Juliette Roddy2Mark Remiker3Indrakshi Roy4Megan McCoy5Eric S. Cerino6Julie Baldwin7Department of Social Work, Northern Arizona University, 19 W McConnell Dr., Flagstaff, AZ 86011, United States of America; Corresponding author.Department of Psychological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, 1100 S Beaver St., Flagstaff, AZ 86011, United States of AmericaDepartment of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Northern Arizona University, 5 E McConnell Dr., Flagstaff, AZ 86011, United States of AmericaCenter for Health Equity Research, Northern Arizona University, 1395 Knoles Drive, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, United States of AmericaCenter for Health Equity Research, Northern Arizona University, 1395 Knoles Drive, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, United States of AmericaDepartment of Social Work, Northern Arizona University, 19 W McConnell Dr., Flagstaff, AZ 86011, United States of AmericaDepartment of Psychological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, 1100 S Beaver St., Flagstaff, AZ 86011, United States of AmericaCenter for Health Equity Research, Northern Arizona University, 1395 Knoles Drive, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, United States of AmericaDespite the potential of mobile health (mHealth) to address high rates of depression and anxiety in underserved rural communities, most mHealth interventions do not explicitly consider the realities of rural life. The aim of this scoping review is to identify and examine the available literature on mHealth interventions that consider the needs of rural populations in order to gauge their feasibility and utility for addressing depression and anxiety. Additionally, we provide an overview of rural users' perceptions about and preferences for mHealth-delivered mental health screening and intervention systems. Out of 169 articles identified, 16 met inclusion criteria. Studies were conducted across a wide range of countries, age groups, and rural subpopulations including individuals with bipolar disorder, anxiety, perinatal depression, PTSD, and chronic pain, as well as refugees, veterans, and transgender and LGBTQ+ individuals. All interventions were in the feasibility/acceptability testing stage for rural users. Identified strengths included their simplicity, accessibility, convenience, availability of support between sessions with providers, and remote access to a care team. Weaknesses included problems with charging phone batteries and exceeding data limits, privacy concerns, and general lack of comfort with app-based support. Based upon this review, we provide recommendations for future mHealth intervention development including the value of developer-user coproduction methods, the need to consider user variation in access to and comfort with smartphones, and potential data or connectivity limitations, mental health stigma, and confidentiality concerns in rural communities.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214782924000174Mobile healthmHealthDepressionAnxietyRuralScoping review |
| spellingShingle | Michael J. McCarthy Alexandra Wicker Juliette Roddy Mark Remiker Indrakshi Roy Megan McCoy Eric S. Cerino Julie Baldwin Feasibility and utility of mobile health interventions for depression and anxiety in rural populations: A scoping review Internet Interventions Mobile health mHealth Depression Anxiety Rural Scoping review |
| title | Feasibility and utility of mobile health interventions for depression and anxiety in rural populations: A scoping review |
| title_full | Feasibility and utility of mobile health interventions for depression and anxiety in rural populations: A scoping review |
| title_fullStr | Feasibility and utility of mobile health interventions for depression and anxiety in rural populations: A scoping review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Feasibility and utility of mobile health interventions for depression and anxiety in rural populations: A scoping review |
| title_short | Feasibility and utility of mobile health interventions for depression and anxiety in rural populations: A scoping review |
| title_sort | feasibility and utility of mobile health interventions for depression and anxiety in rural populations a scoping review |
| topic | Mobile health mHealth Depression Anxiety Rural Scoping review |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214782924000174 |
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