Australian health professionals: attitudes and use of internet supported psychological interventions
Australian health professionals’ attitudes towards and frequency of use of internet supported psychological interventions.
Robert Bruno and Jo Abbott, National eTherapy Centre, Faculty of Health, Arts & Design, Swinburne University of Technology
We recently published a paper in the International Journal of Mental Health about Australian health professionals’ attitudes towards and use of Internet Supported Psychological Interventions (ISPIs) with patients. ISPIs include a range of online mental health resources including educational information about mental health, self-guided or health professional–guided web-based treatment programs, online forums,
mobile apps and consultations delivered through video-conferencing technology.
Interestingly, 70% of health professionals surveyed reported having used at least one ISPI with patients, with only 2% of health professionals indicating that they would not use ISPIs in the future. For the most part health professionals referred patients to self-help web-based treatment programs or educational websites, rather than to ISPIs that could be used in conjunction with their current routine care.
Health professionals highlighted a number of benefits of using ISPIs with patients, including their ability to be used in conjunction with face-to-face sessions, encourage patients to develop skills in self-management, and reach patients who would otherwise not access traditional mental healthcare services. Barriers to health professionals using ISPIs with patients reported included health professionals having little experience in or knowledge about using ISPIs with patients, as well as patient barriers to accessing ISPIs.
Overall, our research suggests that increasing health professionals’ perceptions of the usefulness and ease of use of ISPIs may lead to more positive attitudes towards using ISPIs, and, in turn, more frequent use of ISPIs with patients. Given that the majority of participants had a limited knowledge of ISPIs and little experience in using ISPIs with patients, health professional training may increase both knowledge of the usefulness of ISPIs, whilst also provide experience in using ISPIs.
This suggests that initiatives like the e-mental health in practice project provide important training to help health professionals gain more knowledge about the usefulness of ISPIs and increase their confidence that online mental health resources can both directly benefit patients as well as assist health professionals in their face-to-face work with patients.
Gerhard is a full professor of Clinical Psychology at Linköping University, Sweden since 2003, an
d affiliated researcher at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. Professor Andersson is an internationally recognized researcher in the field of CBT delivered through information and communication technology, as well as the author of the book “The Internet and CBT: a clinical guide”.
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