User experiences of a culturally adapted web-based intervention for posttraumatic stress disorder in Egypt: A qualitative study

Abstract

The following study describes the usability and the acceptability of an online intervention for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), PTSD Coach Online that was culturally adapted and translated into local Egyptian dialect. The adapted intervention was piloted in a randomized control trial with 87 Egyptians meeting clinical criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD. Of the 41 participants who participated in the treatment condition, 15 participants (10 females, 5 males) were randomly selected to take part in a semistructured interview to explore their user experience. Favorable feedback centered on the program's ease of access, user-friendly tools, and cultural appropriateness. Participants also described benefits including increased awareness of PTSD, symptom reduction, and increased willingness to seek psychological support online or in person. In contrast, participants highlighted some drawbacks of the online program, particularly the need for further support or some kind of "human" interaction as well as feelings that the information was not sufficiently personalized and that activities could have been more interesting. The findings suggest that while the PTSD Coach Online-Arabic is unlikely to be an effective stand-alone support, approximately half of the sample indicated that the availability of online tools is important for accessibility of mental health care, particularly for those concerned with stigma. As such, it may be an important supplemental offering for other forms of ongoing care and support. Future research may consider integrated approaches to care that were highlighted as being of particular interest to participants. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).