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Opportunities to expand access to mental health services: A case for the role of online peer support communities

This study investigated whether with disruptions in care due to the COVID-19 pandemic, persons who self-identified as living with a mental health condition increased their usage of an online peer support community. We also explored whether study participants who self-reported usage of online peer su...

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Autores principales: Merchant, Rutvij, Goldin, Aleah, Manjanatha, Deepa, Harter, Claire, Chandler, Judy, Lipp, Amanda, Nguyen, Theresa, Naslund, John A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer US 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8883016/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35226251
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11126-022-09974-7
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author Merchant, Rutvij
Goldin, Aleah
Manjanatha, Deepa
Harter, Claire
Chandler, Judy
Lipp, Amanda
Nguyen, Theresa
Naslund, John A.
author_facet Merchant, Rutvij
Goldin, Aleah
Manjanatha, Deepa
Harter, Claire
Chandler, Judy
Lipp, Amanda
Nguyen, Theresa
Naslund, John A.
author_sort Merchant, Rutvij
collection PubMed
description This study investigated whether with disruptions in care due to the COVID-19 pandemic, persons who self-identified as living with a mental health condition increased their usage of an online peer support community. We also explored whether study participants who self-reported usage of online peer support communities were interested in using these communities to connect with evidence-based interventions and mental health services. This study employed a cross-sectional online survey design. The survey was disseminated by the Inspire online peer support community and Mental Health America through various social media channels. Descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted to summarize participant demographics, investigate patterns of use of online peer support communities, and interest in accessing additional programs through these platforms. There were 369 survey respondents, with a mean age of 49 (SD = 15.6), of which 77% were female. Most respondents self-reported having depression (34%), post-traumatic stress disorder (25%), and anxiety-related conditions (20%). The number of respondents who reported accessing online peer support platforms multiple times a day appeared to double after March 2020. We also found an overall positive association between frequency of community use and self-reported benefit to mental health. Approximately 81% of respondents expressed interest in accessing mental health services via an online peer support community. Persons who self-report living with mental health conditions and who engage in online peer support communities expressed interest in accessing evidence-based interventions via these online platforms. Participants were most interested in services related to enhancing coping mechanisms and skills, enabling overall wellbeing, and accessing therapy.
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spelling pubmed-88830162022-02-28 Opportunities to expand access to mental health services: A case for the role of online peer support communities Merchant, Rutvij Goldin, Aleah Manjanatha, Deepa Harter, Claire Chandler, Judy Lipp, Amanda Nguyen, Theresa Naslund, John A. Psychiatr Q Original Paper This study investigated whether with disruptions in care due to the COVID-19 pandemic, persons who self-identified as living with a mental health condition increased their usage of an online peer support community. We also explored whether study participants who self-reported usage of online peer support communities were interested in using these communities to connect with evidence-based interventions and mental health services. This study employed a cross-sectional online survey design. The survey was disseminated by the Inspire online peer support community and Mental Health America through various social media channels. Descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted to summarize participant demographics, investigate patterns of use of online peer support communities, and interest in accessing additional programs through these platforms. There were 369 survey respondents, with a mean age of 49 (SD = 15.6), of which 77% were female. Most respondents self-reported having depression (34%), post-traumatic stress disorder (25%), and anxiety-related conditions (20%). The number of respondents who reported accessing online peer support platforms multiple times a day appeared to double after March 2020. We also found an overall positive association between frequency of community use and self-reported benefit to mental health. Approximately 81% of respondents expressed interest in accessing mental health services via an online peer support community. Persons who self-report living with mental health conditions and who engage in online peer support communities expressed interest in accessing evidence-based interventions via these online platforms. Participants were most interested in services related to enhancing coping mechanisms and skills, enabling overall wellbeing, and accessing therapy. Springer US 2022-02-28 2022 /pmc/articles/PMC8883016/ /pubmed/35226251 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11126-022-09974-7 Text en © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022 This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Merchant, Rutvij
Goldin, Aleah
Manjanatha, Deepa
Harter, Claire
Chandler, Judy
Lipp, Amanda
Nguyen, Theresa
Naslund, John A.
Opportunities to expand access to mental health services: A case for the role of online peer support communities
title Opportunities to expand access to mental health services: A case for the role of online peer support communities
title_full Opportunities to expand access to mental health services: A case for the role of online peer support communities
title_fullStr Opportunities to expand access to mental health services: A case for the role of online peer support communities
title_full_unstemmed Opportunities to expand access to mental health services: A case for the role of online peer support communities
title_short Opportunities to expand access to mental health services: A case for the role of online peer support communities
title_sort opportunities to expand access to mental health services: a case for the role of online peer support communities
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8883016/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35226251
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11126-022-09974-7
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