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Video Communication in Tele-social Rehabilitation: Digital Social Work in Community Mental Health
ABSTRACT
Background:
For people with severe mental illness, video communication may improve their access to and continuity of recovery-oriented support. However, the use of video communication in community-based social rehabilitation remains underexplored.
Objective:
To explore how video communication was used and experienced by persons with severe mental illness and by participating social workers in a tele-social rehabilitation programme.
Methods:
A case study design utilized video-call log data from 55 persons with mental illness, semi-structured interviews with 13 of these persons, semi-structured interviews with 10 professionals (7 social workers and 3 managers) and 76 hours of participant observation. Log data were collected over a three-year period and analysed for call frequency, timing, and duration. Qualitative data were analysed using NVivo and integrated with the log data.
Results:
The citizens with mental illness used the programme for an average of 46 weeks. In total, 2,730 video calls were registered, with a mean duration of 2.56 minutes. Calls occurred most frequently during mornings and evenings. Citizens experienced 24/7 video access as a source of security and daily support, particularly during vulnerable situations. Although fewer calls were made at night, these generally lasted longer and often concerned anxiety, hearing voices, or other vulnerable situations. Social workers reported that video communication supported their professional social work practice by improving visual assessment and enabling timely and individualized micro-interventions.
Conclusions:
Video communication for citizens with mental illness in a recovery process can complement face-to-face community mental health services by providing accessible, flexible, and recovery-oriented support in both everyday and especially vulnerable situations. The use of video communication, however, should be adapted to each citizen’s individual needs, preferences, coping strategies, and mental state.
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.