Background
The use of the Internet as a source of health information is growing among people who experience mental health difficulties. The increase in Internet use has led to questions about online information-seeking behaviors, for example, how psychotherapists and patients use the Internet to ascertain information about each other. The notion of psychotherapists seeking information about their patients online (patient-targeted googling, PTG) has been identified and explored. However, the idea of patients searching for information online about their psychotherapists (therapist-targeted googling, TTG) and the associated motives and effects on the therapeutic relationship remain unclear.
Objective
This study investigated former and current German-speaking psychotherapy patients’ behavior and attitudes relating to TTG. In addition, patients’ methods of information gathering, motives, and success in searching for information were examined. Furthermore, patients’ experiences and perceptions of PTG were explored.
Methods
Overall, 238 former and current psychotherapy patients responded to a new questionnaire specifically designed to assess the frequency, motives, use, and outcomes of TTG as well as experiences and perceptions of PTG. The study sample was a nonrepresentative convenience sample recruited online via several German-speaking therapy platforms and self-help forums.Results
Of the 238 former and current patients who responded, 106 (44.5%) had obtained information about their therapists; most of them (n=85, 80.2%) had used the Internet for this. Besides curiosity, motives behind information searches included the desire to get to know the therapist better by attempting to search for both professional and private information. TTG appeared to be associated with phases of therapy in which patients felt that progress was not being made. Patients being treated for personality disorders appear to engage more frequently in TTG (rphi = 0.21; P=.004). In general, however, information about therapists sought for online was often not found. Furthermore, most patients refrained from telling their therapist about their information searches.
Conclusions
Patients appear to engage in TTG to obtain both professional and private information about their psychotherapists. TTG can be viewed as a form of client-initiated disclosure. It is therefore important to include TTG as a subject in therapists' education and also to raise awareness within patient education. This investigation provides the first findings into TTG to begin debate on this subject.
New Zealand psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and psychotherapists are engaging in PTG with limited education and professional guidance. Further discussion and research are required, and so, PTG is undertaken in a manner that is safe and useful for patients and health practitioners.
Background
Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in older adults. Unfortunately, it often goes unrecognized in the older population.
Objective
The aim of this study was to identify how Web-based apps can recognize and help treat depression in older adults.
Methods
Focus groups were conducted with mental health care experts. A Web-based survey of 56 older adults suffering from depression was conducted. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 2 individuals.
Results
Results of the focus groups highlighted that there is a need for a collaborative care platform for depression in old age. Findings from the Web-based study showed that younger participants (aged 50 to 64 years) used electronic media more often than older participants (aged 65 years and older). The interviews pointed in a comparable direction.
Conclusions
Overall, an e-mental (electronic mental) health treatment for depression in older adults would be well accepted. Web-based care platforms should be developed, evaluated, and in case of evidence for their effectiveness, integrated into the everyday clinic.
This research compares remittance‐receiving families in rural Mexico to non‐remittance receiving households in terms of how the presence of this financial source relates to variation in parent educational aspirations for their children and youth enrollment and completion at the non‐compulsory upper secondary schooling level. Using multivariate analysis of a comprehensive survey collected in a significant migrant‐sending state, no evidence is found of a remittance effect on the selected outcomes. Rather, other socio‐demographic background factors — namely, maternal education levels and to a lesser extent household wealth — are the factors most associated with variation in these educational outcomes. Implications for migration and education public policy and suggestions for future research are discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.