Development of a web-based intervention for the indicated prevention of depression

Abstract

BackgroundTo reduce the large public health burden of the high prevalence of depression, preventive interventions targeted at people at risk are essential and can be cost-effective. Web-based interventions are able to provide this care, but there is no agreement on how to best develop these applications and often the technology is seen as a given. This seems to be one of the main reasons that web-based interventions do not reach their full potential. The current study describes the development of a web-based intervention for the indicated prevention of depression, employing the CeHRes (Center for eHealth Research and Disease Management) roadmap. The goals are to create a user-friendly application which fits the values of the stakeholders and to evaluate the process of development.MethodsThe employed methods are a literature scan and discussion in the contextual inquiry; interviews, rapid prototyping and a requirement session in the value specification stage; and user-based usability evaluation, expert-based usability inspection and a requirement session in the design stage.ResultsThe contextual inquiry indicated that there is a need for easily accessible interventions for the indicated prevention of depression and web-based interventions are seen as potentially meeting this need. The value specification stage yielded expected needs of potential participants, comments on the usefulness of the proposed features and comments on two proposed designs of the web-based intervention. The design stage yielded valuable comments on the system, content and service of the web-based intervention.ConclusionsOverall, we found that by developing the technology, we successfully (re)designed the system, content and service of the web-based intervention to match the values of stakeholders. This study has shown the importance of a structured development process of a web-based intervention for the indicated prevention of depression because: (1) it allows the development team to clarify the needs that have to be met for the intervention to be of use to the target audience; and (2) it yields feedback on the design of the application that is broader than color and buttons, but encompasses comments on the quality of the service that the application offers.

Exploring mental health providers' interest in using web and mobile-based tools in their practices

“…In light of these approaches, design work usually begins with a user needs analysis that involves characterizing the end users, understanding their goals and activities, identifying common situations, and appreciating their requirements and preferences (Booth, 1989). Design work is becoming increasingly common in the mental health space as clinical researchers are adopting techniques such as user-centered design (Bruns et al, 2015, Kelders et al, 2013) and usability testing (Vilardaga et al, 2015) into the development process. Specific recommendations for engaging the relevant stakeholders for mental health practice, such as the patient-clinician-designer framework, provide clear recommendations about how to deal with areas specific to this domain such as recognizing the different evaluations goals of each group (Marcu et al, 2011).…”

A Participatory Design Approach to Develop a Web-Based Self-Care Program Supporting Early Rehabilitation among Patients after Total Laryngectomy

“…Recently, more attention has been paid to the development of e-health technologies based on participatory development, co-design, and user-centered persuasive design techniques [13,[17][18][19] . A participatory design approach to develop a Web-based self-care program is rather new and has not often been put into practice in speech pathology and phoniatrics.…”

“…In the present study, a 3-phase development life cycle method ( fig. 1 ) was employed, incorporating end users' input with the expertise of health care professionals [16][17][18][19] .…”

“…In the present study, a 3-phase development life cycle method ( fig. 1 ) was employed, incorporating end users' input with the expertise of health care professionals [16][17][18][19] .Recently, more attention has been paid to the development of e-health technologies based on participatory development, co-design, and user-centered persuasive design techniques [13,[17][18][19] . A participatory design approach to develop a Web-based self-care program is rather new and has not often been put into practice in speech pathology and phoniatrics.…”

Therapeutic alliance and different treatment formats when delivering internet-based CBT for depression

“…Some participants had as low as seven weeks to complete the program, which originally was intended to be used over 10 weeks. There is still a lot to be learned regarding how we best use technology to provide therapy and some researchers have used a more theory-based approach when developing digital solutions that contains therapeutic interventions (Kelders, Pots, Oskam, Bohlmeijer, & Van Gemert-Pijnen, 2013;Short, Rebar, & Plotnikoff, 2015). The use of smartphones and mobile technology in internet-based interventions is also a growing research field.…”