Table 2.
Overview of empirical studies that focused on evaluation of the DMHI/s applied on the DMH platform/s.
| Ref-ere-nce | Authors | Study Design/Main Aim | DMH Platform (Type, Purpose of Use and Population) | Outcomes/Form of Evidence | Approach/Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [69] | Bucci et al. (2018) | Qualitative—semi-structured interviews (purposive sample) To assess the feasibility and acceptability of Actissist, a digital health intervention |
Guided CBT-based DMH platform intervention (Actissist) targeting youth psychosis—early psychosis service user (n = 21) perspectives | Feasibility and acceptability—largely positive views on the use of DMHIs for health care delivery. Although there are concerns over privacy and data security | Blended mental health care alone |
| [70] | Doukani et al. (2020) | Qualitative—semi-structured interviews (purposive sample) To examine the working alliance demands and adapt a conceptual framework to an intervention for depression |
Guided CBT-based DMH platform intervention as part of E-compared trial—interviews of people with major depressive disorder (n = 19) to investigate design of the working alliance | Feasibility, usability and engagement—study is the first to offer a preliminary conceptual framework of the working alliance in ICBT for depression including how to establish, plan and promote a user-practitioner relationship in engagement strategies for technological design and clinical practice delivery | Blended mental health care alone |
| [71] | Goldkind and Wolf (2021) | Qualitative—interviews (purposive sample) To ask practitioners to describe their lived experience of providing tele-mental health services |
Direct to consumer tele-mental health (DTCTMH) platforms (unspecified)—affordances of social work practitioners (n = 21) | Usability and engagement—key affordances of DTCTMH platforms include accessibility, anonymity, meaningful work, autonomy, lifelong learning, and access by new populations. Although there are hindering ethical complexities and structural challenges | Blended mental health care alone |
| [72] | Gray et al. (2020) | Qualitative—semi-structured interviews To elicit participant views on using SMART Recovery for routine outcome monitoring as a standard component of a mutual support group |
Self-guided and guided DMH platform (SMART Recovery) for routine outcome monitoring, i.e., mutual support in addiction recovery—adults primarily with alcohol, drug and gambling addictions or other addictions (n = 20) | Feasibility—the use of SMART Recovery may complement physical, weekly group meetings. Although its use could pose a threat to in-person mutual support especially in cases with previous experience of such | Self-guided and guided mental health care |
| [73] | Hentati et al. (2021) | RCT To investigate differences in treatment engagement between two different user interfaces (UIs) for DMH services |
Self-guided mental health problem-solving intervention DMH platform (Swedish health care system)—optimized UI versus basic UI DMH platform for the Swedish general population (n = 397) | Usability and engagement –optimized UI based on user experience (UX) design principles add to treatment engagement with the DMH platform, i.e., generating more solutions to behavioral problems. Although, the self-rated usability and treatment credibility may not be affected by whether the UI is optimized or not | Self-guided mental health care alone |
| [74] | Knapp et al. (2021) | Qualitative—focus groups To understand how digital tools can be integrated into settings that serve young people |
Integrated DMH platform (centralized DMH platform to connect the clinician, young person, and young person’s family)—clinician perspectives (n = 37) on a desired integrated DMH platform to deliver mental health care for children and adolescents | Feasibility—Clinicians use digital tools to increase engagement and help young people build skills, facilitate learning, and monitor symptoms. However, a centralized DMH platform is recommended to improve accessibility by securely connecting the clinician, young person, and caregivers. Tailored solutions are required to serve youth-oriented needs | Blended mental health care alone |
| [75] | LaMonica et al. (2020) | Mixed methods To systematically monitor and evaluate the impact of implementing the InnoWell DMH Platform, into Australian mental health services to facilitate its refinement and the associated service model |
Integrated DMH platform (Innowell)—evaluation of Project Synergy’s impact—surveys (n = 47), semi-stuctured interviews (n = 3), and workshops with representatives from health and social policy agencies, nongovernment organizations, primary care providers, emergency services, research institutions, community groups, and people with lived experience of suicide | Feasibility, acceptability and engagement—consensus that Innowell may benefit consumers and services. Although, implementation is hindered by a lack of readiness for change, e.g., technological infrastructure, digital literacy of staff and organizing who is responsible for recommending digital solutions | Blended mental health care alone |
| [76] | Richards et al. (2020) | RCT To evaluate the (cost-) effectiveness of ICBT for depression and anxiety in a pragmatic clinical trial within routine stepped care |
Integrated-multifunctional DMH platform (SilverCloud)—ICBT for people with anxiety and depression disorders (n = 361), i.e., Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) program | Effectiveness—SilverCloud’s ICBT is effective in >50% of people diagnosed with anxiety and/or depression (recovered after three months), cost-effective for IAPT after 12 months | Stepped mental health care and waitlist control |
| [77] | Sindoni et al. (2020) | Qualitative—case studies To provide analyses on how identity and distance of participants are indexed by focusing on how interpersonal relations are mapped linguistically and multimodally in #YouCanTalk on the Beyond Blue DMH platform. |
Integrated DMH platform (Beyond Blue) applied in a case study on multimodal discourse analysis of peer support and professional mental health care for general populations targeting anxiety, depression and suicidality. A second case study on multimodal discourse analysis was applied with the #YouCanTalk web-based social media campaign and online support forum | Usability and engagement—the Beyond Blue DMH platform used direct language appropriate to target anxiety, depression and suicidality. #YouCanTalk is multimodal in terms of language, layout, modularity and content distribution, as well as pictures, infographics and videos. Although, more datasets are required to help understand how to reduce distance in mental health communication | Blended mental health care alone |
| [78] | Titov et al. (2020) | Quantitative—observational study To provide a summary of demographic characteristics and treatment outcomes for patients registered with MindSpot over its first 7 years of operation, including service use and symptom severity, and examined trends in these characteristics over time |
Integrated-multifunctional DMH platform (MindSpot)—descriptive analysis of patients’ depression, anxiety and general distress and disability symptoms as well as post-treatment satisfaction (n = 121,652 screening users and 14,503 treatment users during a 7-year study) | Usability and engagement—a high assessment completion rate (78.9%); a very high rate (96.65%) of satisfaction with the MindSpot DMH platform; overall improvement in psychological symptoms sustained for 3 months after treatment; utility for a high volume DMH service. Although the relatively small size of registered sample limits generalizability | Self-guided and guided mental health care |
| [79] | Valentine et al. (2020) | Qualitative—semi-structured interviews To gain young people’s perspectives on the design and operation of a blended model of care in first-episode psychosis treatment |
Integrated-multifunctional DMH platform (Horyzons, a derivative of MOST)—young people in first-episode psychosis treatment (n = 10)—perspectives on design and implementation | Acceptability—young people supported blended mental health care provided it assists face-to-face treatment. Although further research is needed on efficacy of the blended care approach by evaluating impact on the therapeutic alliance, clinical and social outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and engagement | Blended mental health care alone |