JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Implementing eMental health (eMH) interventions, especially in the workplace, is a complex process and careful implementation planning is critical to achieving success in this setting. Learning from existing implementation strategies is therefore imperative to ensuring improvements in the adoption, development and scalability of occupational eMH interventions and can serve as a guide for researchers challenged by implementation barriers.

Objective:

The objective of this scoping review was to identify implementation strategies relevant to the uptake of occupational eMH interventions that target employees, detail associated barriers and recommend facilitation measures.

Methods:

A scoping review of literature describing implementation strategies relevant to the uptake of occupational eMH interventions targeting employees was conducted. A descriptive synthesis was achieved guided by the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance) framework and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research.

Results:

A total of 31 from 32,916 publications reporting on the use of Web, smartphone, telephone and email-based occupational eMH interventions were included. Ninety-eight (98) implementation strategies, 114 barriers and 131 facilitators were identified. A synthesis of barriers and facilitators produced 19 facilitation measures that provide quick recommendations for improving the implementation of occupational eMH interventions.

Conclusions:

This scoping review represents one of the first steps in a research agenda aiming to improve the implementation of occupational eMH interventions by more systematically selecting, shaping, evaluating and reporting implementation strategies. It has highlighted the dire need for improved reporting of implementation strategies and to combine common implementation frameworks with more technology-centric implementation frameworks to fully capture the complexities of eHealth implementation. This scoping review also suggests that future research should focus on investigating a wider range of common implementation outcomes for occupational eMH interventions that also focus on a wider set of common mental health problems in the workplace. This scoping review’s findings can be critically leveraged by discerning decision makers to improve the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance of occupational eMH interventions.