Exploring medical students' views on digital mental health interventions: A qualitative study

Dederichs, Melina; Weber, Jeannette; Pischke, Claudia R.; Angerer, Peter; Apolinário-Hagen, Jennifer

doi:10.1016/j.invent.2021.100398

Cited by 26 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Regarding variables related to attitude change, perceived similarity between testimonial sources and oneself as well as source credibility have been identified as persuasive factors across various health communication fields (Green and Clark, 2013;Shen et al, 2015;Shaffer et al, 2018). Medical students, for instance, have been shown to prefer digital interventions that are tailored to students and approved by trustworthy academic sources (Dederichs et al, 2021). Accordingly, testimonials on digi-MHSs may represent a simple way to facilitate their acceptance among university students as they are seldom familiar with such offers and may thus likely be affected by heuristics based on perceived similarity or source credibility (Quintero Johnson et al, 2017.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Persuasive Effects of Testimonials on the Acceptance of Digital Stress Management Trainings Among University Students and Underlying Mechanisms: A Randomized Controlled Trial

et al. 2021

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Objective: This experiment aims to investigate the influence of narrative information varying in the degree of perceived similarity and source credibility in supplemented testimonials on the acceptance of digital mental health services (digi-MHSs).Methods: In fall 2020, n=231 university students were randomly assigned to an active control group (aCG, n=55, “information only”) or one of three intervention groups (IGs) receiving information plus different testimonials being presented either by nonacademic staff (IG1, n=60), university students (IG2, n=58) or experts (IG3, n=58). We assessed mediation effects of similarity and credibility on acceptance in terms of attitudes and usage intentions.Results: Exposure to testimonials was associated with higher usage intentions (d=0.50) and more positive attitudes toward digi-MHSs (d=0.32) compared to mere information (aCG). Regarding source-related effects, one-way ANOVA showed group differences in intentions (ηp2=0.13) that were significantly higher after exposure to testimonials targeted at students than in the other groups after adjusting for baseline intentions (ηp2=0.24). Concerning underlying mechanisms, there were full mediation effects of similarity (IG1 versus IG2) on attitudes [95%CI (0.030, 0.441)] and intentions to use digi-MHSs [95%CI (0.100, 0.528)] and of credibility on attitudes [IG2 versus IG3; 95%CI (−0.217, −0.004)], all favoring students’ testimonials.Conclusion: Overall, this study indicates that the acceptance of digi-MHSs can be substantially increased by providing a simple, context-sensitive information intervention, including testimonials by university students. Since we identified mediating effects of credibility on cognitive attitudes and similarity on affect-driven intentions, a future trial could vary these features using narrative versus statistic information on digi-MHSs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Persuasive Effects of Testimonials on the Acceptance of Digital Stress Management Trainings Among University Students and Underlying Mechanisms: A Randomized Controlled Trial

et al. 2021

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“…This is interesting to note, considering that stigmatization of mental illness is still prevalent in the medical field, and especially students fear professional disadvantages from the disclosure of a mental health problem [ 2 , 45 ]. It is important that mHealth apps provided for medical students are approved by trustworthy sources such as the students’ university [ 27 ]. Similarly, students perceived the app being tested in scientific trials and receiving certification for its effectiveness as an indicator of app quality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In all, 3 guest lecturers were involved on days 2-4 to give insights into the development of mHealth apps. We conducted focus groups on the second and third day, which have been reported elsewhere [ 27 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Introductory lecture, group work, presentations and plenary discussions on relevant literature, legal aspects, and identification of existing mHealth apps that are safe to use and are also of high quality (MARS-G b [28]) Introduction, components and types of guidance for mHealth a apps, quality criteria for mHealth apps, and legal framework 1 Expert lecture (building your own mHealth app and insights into a medical student's back pain app start-up), focus groups part 1 (reported elsewhere [27]), participatory approaches: think-aloud technique, and IDEAS c [29] Acceptability and user orientation, co-design and participatory design methods, and strategies and model for designing mHealth apps 2 Expert lecture (assessment of avatar of a certified medical app for insomnia, Somnio), storyboarding, focus groups part 2 (reported elsewhere [27]), and prototyping avatars in groups Gamification, development and adjustment of mHealth apps, and avatars The first author (MD) and the last author (JAH) facilitated the workshop. JAH created the contents of the workshop with the support of MD.…”

Section: Activity Educational Content Workhop Daymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Piloting an Innovative Concept of e–Mental Health and mHealth Workshops With Medical Students Using a Participatory Co-design Approach and App Prototyping: Case Study

Dederichs¹,

Nitsch²,

Apolinário-Hagen³

2022

JMIR Med Educ

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Background Medical students show low levels of e–mental health literacy. Moreover, there is a high prevalence of common mental illnesses among medical students. Mobile health (mHealth) apps can be used to maintain and promote medical students’ well-being. To date, the potential of mHealth apps for promoting mental health among medical students is largely untapped because they seem to lack familiarity with mHealth. In addition, little is known about medical students’ preferences regarding mHealth apps for mental health promotion. There is a need for guidance on how to promote competence-based learning on mHealth apps in medical education. Objective The aim of this case study is to pilot an innovative concept for an educative workshop following a participatory co-design approach and to explore medical students’ preferences and ideas for mHealth apps through the design of a hypothetical prototype. Methods We conducted a face-to-face co-design workshop within an elective subject with 26 participants enrolled at a medical school in Germany on 5 consecutive days in early March 2020. The aim of the workshop was to apply the knowledge acquired from the lessons on e–mental health and mHealth app development. Activities during the workshop included group work, plenary discussions, storyboarding, developing personas (prototypical users), and designing prototypes of mHealth apps. The workshop was documented in written and digitalized form with the students’ permission. Results The participants’ feedback suggests that the co-design workshop was well-received. The medical students presented a variety of ideas for the design of mHealth apps. Among the common themes that all groups highlighted in their prototypes were personalization, data security, and the importance of scientific evaluation. Conclusions Overall, this case study indicates the feasibility and acceptance of a participatory design workshop for medical students. The students made suggestions for improvements at future workshops (eg, use of free prototype software, shift to e-learning, and more time for group work). Our results can be (and have already been) used as a starting point for future co-design workshops to promote competence-based collaborative learning on digital health topics in medical education.

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“…On the other hand, it is possible that personal acquaintance helped both sides to be more open in the interview situation. The sample size of n = 30 might appear small, but is average for qualitative research among university students [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. Due to the qualitative approach, our results are not generalizable in a statistical way, but they deliver valuable subjective insight from different perspectives.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When in Doubt … Career Indecision, Mental Wellbeing, and Consultation-Seeking Behaviour—A Qualitative Interview Study among Students and Counsellors

Heinrichs

Hermülheim

González

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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University dropout is often preceded by a phase of doubt whether to continue studying, either in general or just the given subject. Mental health problems might be interrelated with this phase of doubt. Counselling services at German universities could provide help, but do not seem to reach students in need. To explore the phase of doubt and possible (inter-)relationships with mental wellbeing among university students in Germany as well as their consultation-seeking behaviour, a qualitative interview study was conducted (2017–2018). Participants were students casting doubts on their studies (n = 14) and counsellors (n = 16) working with this target group. Examples of reasons for doubts were insufficient information, unfulfilled expectations concerning the subject, subjectively poor study conditions, performance problems, and lacking future perspectives. Mental health problems were subjectively intertwined with doubts, considered as both cause and effect. Counselling services were evaluated as hardly helpful by students and as being in need of improvement by counsellors. Suggestions as how to improve such services comprise a more specific and proactive way to approach students. By considering the phase of doubt before dropout, German universities can improve their support services to be more responsive to students and, thus, prevent dropout and mental health problems.

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Exploring medical students' views on digital mental health interventions: A qualitative study

Cited by 26 publications

References 46 publications

Investigating the Persuasive Effects of Testimonials on the Acceptance of Digital Stress Management Trainings Among University Students and Underlying Mechanisms: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Investigating the Persuasive Effects of Testimonials on the Acceptance of Digital Stress Management Trainings Among University Students and Underlying Mechanisms: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Piloting an Innovative Concept of e–Mental Health and mHealth Workshops With Medical Students Using a Participatory Co-design Approach and App Prototyping: Case Study

When in Doubt … Career Indecision, Mental Wellbeing, and Consultation-Seeking Behaviour—A Qualitative Interview Study among Students and Counsellors

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