JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Mobile Health (mHealth), the use of mobile technology in health care, is increasingly being used for mental health service delivery even in Low-Middle-Income countries (LMICs) to scale-up treatment, and a variety of evidence supports their potentials in different populations

Objective:

In this study, we utilise a theoretical lens to explain the personal, behavioural and social/environmental factors impacting the adoption of a mobile health application for depression care among perinatal adolescents in Nigeria.

Methods:

At the preliminary stage of a User-Centered design (UCD), 4 Focus Group Discussions were conducted among 38 participants:19 perinatal adolescents with a history of depression and 20 primary care providers. We documented information on participants' knowledge of mobile health use for health purposes (mHealth), advantages and challenges to the adoption of a mHealth application (app) by young mothers, and approaches to mitigate challenges. Data collection and analysis was an iterative process until saturation of all topic areas was reached.

Results:

The mean age for young mothers was 17.3+0.9 years and (48+5.8) for care providers. Mistrust from relatives on mobile phone use for therapeutic purposes, avoidance of clinic appointments, and sharing of app contents with friends were some challenges to adoption identified in the study population. Supportive personal factors and expressions of self-efficacy on mobile app users were found to be insufficient for adoption, given the social complications of getting pregnant at a young age. Adequate engagement of parents/guardians/partners on mHealth solutions by care providers was identified as necessary to uptake of digital tools for mental health care in this population.

Conclusions:

Communications between care providers and patients' relatives on the therapeutic use of mobile health are vital stakeholders to the success of a mHealth mental health management plan for depression in young mothers in Nigeria.