New article published: “Usefulness of self-guided digital services among mental health patients: The role of health confidence and sociodemographic characteristics"
Our researchers, research fellow Iiris Hörhammer and senior university lecturer Sari Kujala, in collaborating with Wellbeing Services County of North Karelia – Siun sote, published an article based on a study conducted in 2022. The online survey in with 438 respondents gathered insights in their experiences with the remote Finnish Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (MHSAS).
They found that high health confidence is associated both to a better perceived usefulness of self-guided digital services and with not using digital mental health services. Furthermore, it was found that elderly users perceive self-guided services to be as beneficial as younger users do.
"Additional support by healthcare professionals may also be needed in using the services. The results suggest that healthcare professionals should take patients’ perception of their own ability to benefit from digital services into consideration when guiding patients to use digital services. This is especially true for expensive or otherwise resource consuming services to avoid waste.", says Iiris Hörhammer.
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Text: Saija Simola and Iiris Hörhammer // Aalto University
Photo: Aalto University/Adolfo Vera