1. Dr Diane Rasmussen Pennington
How do you find a good app? Connecting youth with appropriate e-mental health tools
Dr Diane Rasmussen Pennington
Lecturer in Information Science
Department of Computer and Information Sciences
University of Strathclyde
#BCS_HIS16 #mhtrack
12 October 2016

2. Youth e-mental health - What help is out there? How can they find it?

3. A page of text

4. Quizzes to evaluate issues/severity

5. Online chat with a counsellor

6. Personal stories

7. Personal stories (with interactions?)

8. Videos featuring others who have “been there”

9. Interactives/games

10. Social media awareness

11. Apps (mood tracking, meditation, inspiration)

12. Young people’s needs from mental health mobile technologies
Safety: confidentiality, cyberbullying, stigma
Engagement
Functionality
Social interaction
Promoting awareness
Accessibility
Gender
Young people in control
Kenny, R., Dooley, B., & Fitzgerald, A. (2016). Developing mental health mobile apps: Exploring adolescents’ perspectives. Health Informatics Journal, 22(2),

13. University students’ e-mental health use
Women more than men
78% did not trust what they found
13% had used e-mental health (forums, chat)
Advantages:
Easy to get
Lots of info
Private
Disadvantages:
Unreliable info
Don’t know who wrote info
Medical advice more reliable
Montagni, I., et al. (2016). Spanish students’ use of the Internet for mental health information and support seeking. Health Informatics Journal, 22(2),

14. Some of my prior and current work

15. Start with Google, using their terms

16. Not too much text

17. Videos!

18. Interactive, not static
Discussion forums
Respect confidentiality
Quizzes, but not if topic is “too serious”
Chatting/texting with a trusted counsellor
Chatting/texting is better than phone
Games must hold their interest

19. How does internet content make us feel
How does internet content make us feel? How can we find things that make us feel better, not worse?

20. Explorathon 2016 youth event: Searching and feelings? Systems design?
YouTube Find an exciting movie.
Soundcloud Find a sad song.
Flickr Find a beautiful picture.
Google Play Store Station Find a calming app.
Wikipedia What makes people angry about the candidates for the American presidential election?

21. But how do they find it?