Adhoc Setup of an Online Mental Health Self-Help Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Description of the Development and Implementation Processes and Analysis of Its Users’ and Usage Profiles
BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic hit Austria in March 2020. This led to a considerable reduction in outpatient psychiatric therapies. People with mental disorders as well as with newly emerging mental health issues found themselves with very limited treatment options. Within only a few days our hospi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.853371/full |
| _version_ | 1811289783905812480 |
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| author | Matyas Galffy Carina Bichler Carina Bichler Thomas Mohr Jonas Egeter Leonie Neu Maria Oberhammer Birgit Högl Eberhard A. Deisenhammer Barbara Sperner-Unterweger Katharina Hüfner |
| author_facet | Matyas Galffy Carina Bichler Carina Bichler Thomas Mohr Jonas Egeter Leonie Neu Maria Oberhammer Birgit Högl Eberhard A. Deisenhammer Barbara Sperner-Unterweger Katharina Hüfner |
| author_sort | Matyas Galffy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic hit Austria in March 2020. This led to a considerable reduction in outpatient psychiatric therapies. People with mental disorders as well as with newly emerging mental health issues found themselves with very limited treatment options. Within only a few days our hospital set up an online mental health self-help program which went online in its first version on the first day of the lockdown in Austria. The process of this development and implementation process alongside with the user’s and usage data for the program are presented here.MethodsA small core team initiated the development of the program on a low-budget basis and using mostly freely available digital resources. The program had to be free of costs for its users and easy to navigate. Each self-help module contains a text description of the topic, a self-rating questionnaire and several psychoeducational 2–5 min videos. These videos explain, e.g., interactions of mental stress and the immune system or the vicious circle of anxiety. Additional videos provide easy to learn techniques like breathing and relaxation exercises.ResultsWe illustrate the implementation of this program following the replicating effective program (REP) model. We provide a detailed description of the implementation process starting from a simple website to a smartphone-based application with registered user area and instantaneous reporting of self-rating questionnaire results to users. The described process could be used as a model for the setup of similar programs in a very short time. As an indicator of acceptance, we report 46,100 unique video views and 3,937 completed questionnaires in the first year of use. The most accessed videos were those on anxiety, relaxation and resilience. Analysis of the sociodemographic user data indicate that they were mostly young (< 45 years; 59.7%), females (77.5%) and previously mentally healthy individuals (74.5%). An example of the collected psychometric questionnaire data over time is given.ConclusionWe show that it is possible to set up an online mental health self-help program ad hoc and without extensive prior planning, which enabled us to dynamically respond to a new situation. We are now planning on keeping the program active for a longer period of time to supplement and expand traditional treatment settings also outside the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:00:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-da422583cc2d410e87822792f28db088 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:00:24Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-da422583cc2d410e87822792f28db0882022-12-22T03:03:30ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-07-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.853371853371Adhoc Setup of an Online Mental Health Self-Help Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Description of the Development and Implementation Processes and Analysis of Its Users’ and Usage ProfilesMatyas Galffy0Carina Bichler1Carina Bichler2Thomas Mohr3Jonas Egeter4Leonie Neu5Maria Oberhammer6Birgit Högl7Eberhard A. Deisenhammer8Barbara Sperner-Unterweger9Katharina Hüfner10Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Medical Psychology, University Hospital of Psychiatry II, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, AustriaDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Medical Psychology, University Hospital of Psychiatry II, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, AustriaDepartment of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, AustriaCenter for Cancer Research, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Medical Psychology, University Hospital of Psychiatry II, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, AustriaDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Medical Psychology, University Hospital of Psychiatry II, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, AustriaDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Medical Psychology, University Hospital of Psychiatry I, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, AustriaDepartment of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, AustriaDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Medical Psychology, University Hospital of Psychiatry II, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, AustriaDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Medical Psychology, University Hospital of Psychiatry II, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, AustriaDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Medical Psychology, University Hospital of Psychiatry II, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, AustriaBackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic hit Austria in March 2020. This led to a considerable reduction in outpatient psychiatric therapies. People with mental disorders as well as with newly emerging mental health issues found themselves with very limited treatment options. Within only a few days our hospital set up an online mental health self-help program which went online in its first version on the first day of the lockdown in Austria. The process of this development and implementation process alongside with the user’s and usage data for the program are presented here.MethodsA small core team initiated the development of the program on a low-budget basis and using mostly freely available digital resources. The program had to be free of costs for its users and easy to navigate. Each self-help module contains a text description of the topic, a self-rating questionnaire and several psychoeducational 2–5 min videos. These videos explain, e.g., interactions of mental stress and the immune system or the vicious circle of anxiety. Additional videos provide easy to learn techniques like breathing and relaxation exercises.ResultsWe illustrate the implementation of this program following the replicating effective program (REP) model. We provide a detailed description of the implementation process starting from a simple website to a smartphone-based application with registered user area and instantaneous reporting of self-rating questionnaire results to users. The described process could be used as a model for the setup of similar programs in a very short time. As an indicator of acceptance, we report 46,100 unique video views and 3,937 completed questionnaires in the first year of use. The most accessed videos were those on anxiety, relaxation and resilience. Analysis of the sociodemographic user data indicate that they were mostly young (< 45 years; 59.7%), females (77.5%) and previously mentally healthy individuals (74.5%). An example of the collected psychometric questionnaire data over time is given.ConclusionWe show that it is possible to set up an online mental health self-help program ad hoc and without extensive prior planning, which enabled us to dynamically respond to a new situation. We are now planning on keeping the program active for a longer period of time to supplement and expand traditional treatment settings also outside the COVID-19 pandemic.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.853371/fullself-helpresiliencedepressionanxietye-healthCOVID-19 |
| spellingShingle | Matyas Galffy Carina Bichler Carina Bichler Thomas Mohr Jonas Egeter Leonie Neu Maria Oberhammer Birgit Högl Eberhard A. Deisenhammer Barbara Sperner-Unterweger Katharina Hüfner Adhoc Setup of an Online Mental Health Self-Help Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Description of the Development and Implementation Processes and Analysis of Its Users’ and Usage Profiles Frontiers in Psychology self-help resilience depression anxiety e-health COVID-19 |
| title | Adhoc Setup of an Online Mental Health Self-Help Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Description of the Development and Implementation Processes and Analysis of Its Users’ and Usage Profiles |
| title_full | Adhoc Setup of an Online Mental Health Self-Help Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Description of the Development and Implementation Processes and Analysis of Its Users’ and Usage Profiles |
| title_fullStr | Adhoc Setup of an Online Mental Health Self-Help Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Description of the Development and Implementation Processes and Analysis of Its Users’ and Usage Profiles |
| title_full_unstemmed | Adhoc Setup of an Online Mental Health Self-Help Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Description of the Development and Implementation Processes and Analysis of Its Users’ and Usage Profiles |
| title_short | Adhoc Setup of an Online Mental Health Self-Help Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Description of the Development and Implementation Processes and Analysis of Its Users’ and Usage Profiles |
| title_sort | adhoc setup of an online mental health self help program during the covid 19 pandemic description of the development and implementation processes and analysis of its users and usage profiles |
| topic | self-help resilience depression anxiety e-health COVID-19 |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.853371/full |
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