Healthcare professionals’ attitudes towards digital technology to support their mental wellbeing

Abstract

Digital mental health therapies have been suggested to improve the accessibility and use of psychological treatment. However, little information is available about the attitudes and behavioural intentions of healthcare professionals towards such treatments for personal use. Poor attitudes and negative behavioural intentions can be a significant barrier to the uptake and utilisation towards this form of therapy. Therefore, this study sought to explore the relationships between attitudes and behavioural intentions of healthcare professionals working within Mater Dei Hospital, towards digital mental health services. Their perception of this form of therapy’s usefulness and relative advantages in comparison with conventional psychotherapy was examined, and the influence of their mental health status and demographic differences on their use of these services was also investigated. The present study took the form of a quantitative cross-sectional needs analysis by distributing an online questionnaire to the targeted population. The data tool assessed the attitudes of the targeted population towards digital mental health services, and potential predictors of attitudes and behavioural intentions. These predictors included various psychological variables (stress, optimism, levels of positive and negative affect and control of internal states) to assess the participant’s mental health status level and demographic characteristics. The majority of participants (327/67.3%) held an overall neutral attitude towards digital therapy. However, on further analysis, the study revealed ambivalent attitudes. Although most participants (312/64.2%) perceived the usefulness of this form of treatment, only a few (39/8.1%) agreed with its relative advantages and comparability to conventional treatment. A large percentage of the respondents (423/87.2%) also reported a preference for conventional therapy, yet many (171/35.3%) still indicated an intention to utilise digital therapy if made available. A low level of awareness and uncertainties on the existence of digital mental health services was also observed (271/55.77%). No relationship was revealed between mental health status and attitudes towards digital therapy. Greater perceived usefulness of digital therapy was associated with the participant’s age, F (5, 22.18) = 3.68; p =.01; career length, F (4,479) = 3.85, p = .00; and occupation, F (3, 479) =3.35, p = .02. Furthermore, relative advantages and comparability of digital therapy was also associated with, ethnicity, F (1, 466) = 7.39, p = .007; occupation, F (3, 474) = 3.09 p = .03; and frequency of internet use F (3, 478) = 3.08 p = .03. The findings from this study indicate, that healthcare professionals working at Mater Dei Hospital have an overall neutral attitude towards digital therapy, yet many are willing to make use of these services. Further research is needed to investigate the barriers and facilitators to using digital therapy among specific cohorts. Additionally, the results from this study indicate that more efforts should focus on increasing healthcare professionals’ knowledge about digital therapy, including the empirical evidence supporting its effectiveness. However, digital therapy could be a means to provide more holistic support for healthcare workers’ mental health in the near future.