Mobile Phones as a Medium of Mental Health Care Service Delivery: Perspectives and Barriers among Patients with Severe Mental Illness

Abstract

Background:The use of mobile phone technology to support various components of health care delivery (often referred to as mHealth) is on the rise. Little systematic information, however, is available on user felt needs and barriers to mHealth approaches among people with severe mental illness (SMI). Our objectives were to elicit user needs, preferences, and barriers to using mobile phones for health care service delivery among people with SMI.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study was carried out among 75 subjects with SMI between August 2017 and October 2017. All patients had a minimum illness duration of two years or more and a Global Assessment of Functioning score of less than 70. Information on user perspectives was elicited using a 10-item structured questionnaire, to assess mobile phone usage patterns, felt needs, barriers, and preferences, developed for use in patients with SMI.Results:Majority of the patients reported using mobile phones and were favorably disposed to mHealth approaches. Voice calls (n = 47, 62.7%) were the most preferred mode of service delivery. The most preferred service frequency was twice-weekly (n = 31, 41.3%), followed by once-weekly (n = 22, 29.3%). Majority (n = 47, 62.7%) reported no barriers to mobile phone usage, whereas 14 (18.6%) perceived a lack of necessity of mobile phones as a service delivery medium. Reminders about medication and appointments through mobile phones (n = 35, 46.6%) were the most felt needs, followed by crisis helplines (n = 27, 36.0%) and information about mental health services (n = 22, 29.3%).Conclusion:These findings support the use of mHealth approaches in resource-constrained settings and provide specific inputs to refine the modalities of mHealth service delivery.

Telehealth Acceptability and Feasibility Among People Served in a Community Behavioral Health System During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The rapid transition to telehealth in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic bypassed the usual processes by which behavioral health agencies seek client buy-in before implementing new services. Consistent with previous studies of telepsychiatry (6,(11)(12)(13)(14), the high level of perceived support and satisfaction with telehealth services, largely regardless of program type, is promising, with no worsening of satisfaction noted during the pandemic in 2020 and compared with historical (i.e., 2018) responses.…”

“…A growing body of evidence supports the notion that with regard to outcomes and patient satisfaction, telepsychiatry is comparable to face-to-face psychiatry in clinical settings (8)(9)(10). A subset of evidence has examined telepsychiatry for the management of serious mental illness, finding that most clients appreciate these services (6,(11)(12)(13)(14). Social isolation is a common problem among people with serious mental illness, sometimes compounded by paranoid ideation or negative symptoms (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25).…”

Investigating the Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on the Psychological Health of University Students and Their Attitudes Toward Mobile Mental Health Solutions: Two-Part Questionnaire Study

“…The second part of the questionnaire served to investigate the university students’ knowledge of mental health apps and their opinions about the use of these apps for mental health care. The questions were formulated based on questions retrieved from related literature investigating similar topics [ 29 - 32 ]. As shown in Table 3 , the questions were formulated mainly to determine if the students had any previous knowledge or experience with mental health apps; understand their willingness to consider using a mental health app; and understand the preferences and factors that could encourage them to use apps for mental health care.…”

The Use of Text Messaging to Improve Clinical Engagement for Individuals With Psychosis: Systematic Review

“…Cell phone ownership among SMI populations has been reported at 93% in the United States, yet only 50% to 60% owned smartphones [68,69], and 67.9% in Israel [70]. In developing and newly developed countries such as India, however, smartphone ownership is still only present in a minority (22.7%) of mental health populations [71]. Importantly, trends in smartphone ownership, although still below cell phone ownership rates as of 2018, have been steadily increasing for [72] as well as populations with psychosis [29] and will likely become more ubiquitous as younger populations grow in this digital age.…”