If You Build It Will They Come? Adoption of Online Counseling of Overseas Migrant Workers Ma. Regina M. Hechanova, PhD Ateneo de Manila University

OFWs comprise 10% of the Philippine Population – Advantage: Remittances fuel economy; Upward mobility – Disadvantage: Negative effects on the OFW and their families Online Counseling – Despite distances, psychosocial interventions/ counseling can be done via internet-mediated communications Rationale for Study – There are theories that explain migrant adjustment, help- seeking behavior and technology adoption – Dearth of literature on adoption of online counseling among migrant workers

Research Objectives ADJUSTMENT THEORY How does the profile of OFW users in terms of issues raised, occupation and host country influence adoption of online counseling? HELP-SEEKING THEORY: How do help-seeking factors influence the adoption of online counseling? TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION: How do technology- related factors influence the adoption of online counseling? ADOPTION OF ONLINE COUNSELING

OFWOnline launched in July 2009 to provide online counseling via chat to OFWs and their families Project of Ateneo Center for Organization Research and Development (Ateneo CORD), Ateneo Department of Psychology, Ateneo Department of Information & Computer Science with support from Singapore Internet Research Development Center and other partners Service is provided to OFWs and their families for FREE Users register and communicate with counselors via chat d=3

Methodology Secondary Data – profile of OFWs that made use of the website, the demographic variables of 191 OFWs site users – analysis of counseling transcriptions (average time is minutes; 7,199 lines of text derived from 40 counseling sessions - 36 text-based chat, 4 ) Interviews – perceptions and attitudes of non-users about online counselling, 30 individuals (10 OFWs, 10 spouses, 10 children)

SITE USER PROFILE: Average of 14 site user/mo User traffic is variable (weekdays and office hours and after media promotion) OFWs (85%), family members(15%) Mostly male (75%) 78% white collar professionals Majority of sessions are 1-time with a maximum of 18 session

Issues of OFWs and their Families Family, marital relationship issues (65%) Work related issues (23%) Homesickness/Loneliness (15%) Cross-cultural adjustment (15%) Financial (10%

Users A positive experience / potentially positive experience Non-Users Lack of Clarity/Stigma For those with big problems Counselors as Experts, Listeners, and/or Agents of Action HELP-SEEKING ATTITUDES For those with No social support

BARRIERS Lack of access Lack of computer skills Technology & connectivity problems DRIVERS Access Ease with technology Computer Norms among peers Technology-Related Issues

PROPOSED MODEL FOR ADOPTION OF ONLINE COUNSELING NATURE OF ISSUES Problems & their Severity HELP-SEEKING ATTITUDES Existence of Social Support Openness to Counseling TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION ADOPTION OF ONLINE COUNSELING Perceived NeedAttitudes Help-Seeing Behavior Location, Occupation, Gender

Implications APPLICATION Need for Media promotion/awareness Changes in counseling model (inclusion of , counseling by appointment, Facebook) Need to expand technology (mobile counseling) Need for training of counselors on online counseling Sustainability issues POLICY Currently this service is being run in partnership with private organizations Need for stronger private- public partnership