Understanding Mental Health Professionals’ Perspectives and Practices Regarding the Implementation of Digital Mental Health: Qualitative Study (Preprint)

Mendes-Santos, Cristina; Nunes, Francisco; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Santana, Rui; Andersson, Gerhard

doi:10.2196/preprints.32558

PreprintCited by 52Digital Mental Health InterventionsTelemedicine and Telehealth ImplementationPsychiatric care and mental health services

Understanding Mental Health Professionals’ Perspectives and Practices Regarding the Implementation of Digital Mental Health: Qualitative Study (Preprint)

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Mendes-Santos, Cristina, Nunes, Francisco, Weiderpass, Elisabete, Santana, Rui, Andersson, Gerhard·2021·JMIR Formative Research

DOI 10.2196/preprints.32558PMC PMC9044148

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Despite the potential of digital mental health to provide cost-effective mental health care, its adoption in clinical settings is limited, and little is known about the perspectives and practices of mental health professionals regarding its implementation or the factors influencing these perspectives and practices. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to characterize in depth the perspectives and practices of mental health professionals regarding the implementation of digital mental health and explore the factors affecting such perspectives and practices. METHODS: A qualitative study using in-depth semistructured interviews with Portuguese mental health professionals (N=13)—psychologists and psychiatrists—was conducted. The transcribed interviews were thematically analyzed. RESULTS: Mental health professionals deemed important or engaged in the following practices during the implementation of digital mental health: indication evaluation, therapeutic contract negotiation, digital psychological assessment, technology setup and management, and intervention delivery and follow-up. Low-threshold accessibility and professionals’ perceived duty to provide support to their clients facilitated the implementation of digital mental health. Conversely, the lack of structured intervention frameworks; the unavailability of usable, validated, and affordable technology; and the absence of structured training programs inhibited digital mental health implementation by mental health professionals. CONCLUSIONS: The publication of practice frameworks, development of evidence-based technology, and delivery of structured training seem key to expediting implementation and encouraging the sustained adoption of digital mental health by mental health professionals.

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Additional content was developed based on peer-reviewed sources, as well as mixed methods research conducted by the research team and involving iNNOVBC's primary and secondary end users.
“Additional content was developed based on peer-reviewed sources [46-50], as well as mixed methods research conducted by the research team and involving iNNOVBC’s primary and secondary end users [51,52].”
From Development and Evaluation of the Usefulness, Usability, and Feasibility of iNNOV Breast Cancer: Mixed Methods Study (2022) · cites this paper as [52]
The Methods (Study Context; Data Collection, pages unavailable) describe a qualitative interview study conducted by the research team in the iNNOVBC project with 13 mental health professionals. The Results (Technology Setup and Management, page unavailable) report participants’ views on developing intervention content, but the paper does not establish that this research was mixed methods or that its findings were used to develop the citing document’s additional content. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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Mapping mental healthcare professionals’ journey towards digital mental health adoption: A qualitative study
Mendes-Santos, C., Nunes, F., Weiderpass, E., Santana, R., & Andersson, G. (2021) · European Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/j.eurpsy.2021.933
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Barriers to and Facilitators of the Implementation of Digital Mental Health Interventions as Perceived by Primary Care Decision Makers: Content Analysis of Structured Open-Ended Survey Data
Brantnell, A., Temiz, S., Baraldi, E., Woodford, J., & von Essen, L. (2023) · JMIR Human Factors · doi:10.2196/44688 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Digital mental health in Italy: findings from the multicentric DIGIT-PSY study
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Authors: Mendes-Santos, C., Nunes, F., Weiderpass, E., Santana, R., & Andersson, G.
Affiliations: Linköping University (SE)
Fraunhofer Portugal Research (PT)
Centre international de recherche sur le cancer (FR)
Universidade Nova de Lisboa (PT)
Corresponding author: Mendes-Santos, Cristina
ORCID: Mendes-Santos, Cristina
Nunes, Francisco
Weiderpass, Elisabete
Santana, Rui
Andersson, Gerhard
Venue: JMIR Formative Research
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Published: 2021-08-02
Volume: 6
Issue: 4
Pages: e32558-e32558
ISSN: 2561-326X (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.2196/preprints.32558
PMC: PMC9044148
OpenAlex: W4210826252
Cited by: 52
References: 73
Citations by year: 2026: 10 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 2
FWCI: 9.27
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: gold
doi.org
Licence: cc-by
Locations: JMIR Formative Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Funders: World Health Organization
European Commission (2020 ‘)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychiatric care and mental health services
Keywords: digital mental health, implementation, mental health professionals, psychologists, psychiatrists, professional perspectives, barriers to adoption, technology training, practice framework, external beam radiotherapy

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Understanding Mental Health Professionals’ Perspectives and Practices Regarding the Implementation of Digital Mental Health: Qualitative Study (Preprint)

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