Delivery of an online psychosocial recovery program during COVID‐19: A survey of young people attending a youth mental health service

Abstract

Aims The COVID‐19 pandemic forced the rapid move of mental health services to being delivered online. This included the delivery of a psychosocial recovery program (PRP) delivered in youth mental health services in Melbourne, Australia which consists of groups that address functional recovery. At the time, there was limited evidence about how this switch in service provision would be received by service users or what impact the pandemic was having on their mental health. Methods Young people engaged with the PRP between March and May 2020 were sent a link to complete an online survey that was co‐developed by young people and clinicians. Attendance data at groups were extracted as a proximal measure of feasibility and acceptability. Results A total of 44 young people undertook the survey with the domains of wellbeing most impacted by lockdown being work/study, motivation and social connection. Groups provided online were generally well attended during lockdown, particularly those that had a focus on therapeutic content. Young people indicated little preference for continuing to attend groups run purely online when restrictions eased, with many expressing a preference for these to be offered face‐to‐face or in a combined format. Conclusions These findings suggest that implementation of online psychosocial groups during periods of lockdown is both feasible and acceptable. Whilst young people found accessing groups online to be of benefit at the time, they felt that continued substitution of face‐to‐face groups would not necessarily be preferable and clinical services should consider these preferences in their long‐term service delivery.

Digital and Hybrid Pediatric and Youth Mental Health Program Implementation Challenges During the Pandemic: Literature Review With a Knowledge Translation and Theoretical Lens Analysis

“…Several studies used a hybrid method involving face-to-face and digital KT media [ 22 , 25 , 29 , 30 , 33 , 37 , 46 ]. However, most focused on implementing e–mental health programs exclusively on the web, usually through virtual mental health or telehealth [ 9 , 19 , 20 , 22 , 24 , 25 , 28 , 32 , 34 - 36 , 42 , 44 ]. One study focused on using 1 KT medium for translating information on self-care during the pandemic to young cancer survivors to promote their mental well-being using an infographic [ 30 ].…”

“…Most of the articles explicitly described that the study was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic in their titles [9,[19][20][21][22]24,[26][27][28]30,[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42]44]. Others discussed their study relevance in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic in the abstract or main text [9,23,29,31,38,39].…”

‘Isolated together’: online group treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic review

“…In addition, particular attention was paid to young high school and university students, for whom various types of group interventions have been shown to be effective in promoting psychosocial resources and adaptations. This is consistent with observations in the literature (Esposito et al ., 2021 ), where this population is most accustomed to using the Internet and may prefer this modality in the future (Somaiya et al ., 2022 ). In this context, the OPGI is among the numerous forms of intervention that have moved directly to or emerged from the Internet with the COVID-19 pandemic (Batastini et al ., 2021 ).…”

Digital and Hybrid Pediatric and Youth Mental Health Program Implementation Challenges During the Pandemic: Literature Review With a Knowledge Translation and Theoretical Lens Analysis (Preprint)

“…Several studies used a hybrid method involving face-to-face and digital KT media [22,25,29,30,33,37,46]. However, most focused on implementing e-mental health programs exclusively on the web, usually through virtual mental health or telehealth [9,19,20,22,24,25,28,32,[34][35][36]42,44]. One study focused on using 1 KT medium for translating information on self-care during the pandemic to young cancer survivors to promote their mental well-being using an infographic [30].…”