JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

As digital technologies become increasingly embedded in daily life, their roles in mental health care are expanding and diversifying. Digital tools are being explored as interventions for obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) across the care continuum, including symptom recognition, access to care, treatment, and self-management. However, there is limited empirical understanding of how individuals living with OCD use digital technologies in situ to navigate their healthcare journeys, and how they envision technology shaping future models of care.

Objective:

To explore how individuals living with OCD use digital technologies to navigate their healthcare experiences and to understand the perceived roles of technology across the OCD care continuum.

Methods:

We conducted semi-structured interviews (n=24) with adults self-reporting a diagnosis of OCD, recruited through online OCD communities and advocacy networks. Interviews were conducted via HIPAA-compliant Zoom between May and December 2024 (median duration: 51 minutes). Transcripts were coded in Dedoose (v9.2.22) using a constructivist grounded theory approach. Coding proceeded iteratively through open and focused coding, with theoretical saturation reached after 15 interviews. Constant comparison and analytic memoing guided the development of a conceptual framework of the relationships between technology and OCD Healthcare.

Results:

Participants (median age 26, range 20–64; 67% female; 29% male; 4% non-binary) described technology as integral to three aspects of the OCD healthcare journey. First, Discovery and Understanding: social media and online content helped them to identify with the diagnosis and seek care. Second, Facilitating OCD Healthcare: digital tools such as telehealth platforms, apps, and wearables helped them bridge gaps to care. Third, Imagining a Future: participants viewed emerging technologies as potential ways to improve symptom recognition and control.

Conclusions:

Digital technologies are reshaping how individuals with OCD identify symptoms, engage with treatment, and envision future care delivery. Participants described using online communities, telehealth, and mobile health tools to address barriers across the OCD healthcare continuum, while emphasizing interest in technologies that provide adaptive and real-time symptom support. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating lived experience into digital mental health innovation and suggest that technology may support a shift toward more continuous, personalized, and accessible OCD care models.