Due to necessary scheduled maintenance, the JMIR Publications website will be unavailable from Wednesday, July 01, 2020 at 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM EST. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause you.
Who will be affected?
Readers: No access to all 28 journals. We recommend accessing our articles via PubMed Central
Authors: No access to the submission form or your user account.
Reviewers: No access to your user account. Please download manuscripts you are reviewing for offline reading before Wednesday, July 01, 2020 at 7:00 PM.
Editors: No access to your user account to assign reviewers or make decisions.
Copyeditors: No access to user account. Please download manuscripts you are copyediting before Wednesday, July 01, 2020 at 7:00 PM.
The suitability of text-based communications for the delivery of psychological therapeutic services to rural and remote communities: A scoping review
Anne Dwyer;
Abílio de Almeida Neto;
Dominique Estival;
Weicong Li;
Christa Lam-Cassettari;
Mark Antoniou
ABSTRACT
Background:
People living in rural and remote areas have poorer access to mental health services than those living in cities. They also are less likely to seek help because of self-stigma and entrenched stoic beliefs about help-seeking as a sign of weakness.
Objective:
E-mental health services have the potential to circumvent these barriers using technology.
Methods:
This review argues that text-based, real-time communication with a qualified therapist is an effective form of e-mental health service delivery that will be particularly attractive for those concerned with stigma and confidentiality.
Results:
Another advantage of text-based communications is that computational linguistic analyses of transcripts may help identify individuals at risk of serious mental health issues and suicide.
Conclusions:
We recommend that future research should pursue this potentially fruitful hypothesis to develop policy and improve intervention accessibility for regional communities.
Citation
Please cite as:
Dwyer A, de Almeida Neto A, Estival D, Li W, Lam-Cassettari C, Antoniou M
Suitability of Text-Based Communications for the Delivery of Psychological Therapeutic Services to Rural and Remote Communities: Scoping Review