The impact of digital interventions on help-seeking behaviour for mental health problems: a systematic literature review

• Published in: Current opinion in psychiatry Vol. 35; no. 3; p. 207
• Main Authors: Evans-Lacko, Sara, Hahn, Jane Sungmin, Peter, Lina-Jolien, Schomerus, Georg
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.05.2022
• DOI: 10.1097/YCO.0000000000000788

Interventions that facilitate help-seeking could help individuals to get care earlier on which could also help avert some mental health crises. Delivering interventions via a digital format could mitigate some key barriers to mental healthcare. We reviewed the literature for digital interventions which facilitate formal or informal help-seeking for mental health problems. We examined the impact of identified interventions on actual and intended help-seeking and attitudes towards help-seeking. We identified 35 interventions. About half (51%) of studies showed an improvement in at least one help-seeking outcome with the greatest number showing an improvement in help-seeking intentions and the fewest studies showing an improvement in actual behaviour (29%). Findings suggest that interventions that promote active participation and personal involvement through sharing one's own narrative seem to be promising practices to facilitate help-seeking. Our findings suggest digital interventions can improve help-seeking for mental health problems among a range of populations. Given speciality mental health resources are scarce, further research needs to consider how these interventions could best target the most vulnerable groups to link them with mental healthcare and how these interventions might facilitate earlier intervention in a way that might reduce need for crisis care and support.