A youth-informed approach to mental health service websites
‘So People Can Actually Connect’
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22945688 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Senuri Panditharatne (0009-0003-8255-9691, School of Psychology, Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland , Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, 1010 Aotearoa), Kerry Gibson (0000-0003-2921-5032, School of Psychology, Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland , Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, 1010, Aotearoa) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2025-05-13 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Health Promotion International (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0957-4824 • E-ISSN: 1460-2245 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/heapro/daaf068 |
| PMID | 40402016 |
| OpenAlex | W4410622668 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 40 |
There are well-recognized barriers that prevent young people from accessing timely mental health support and there is an opportunity to promote their engagement with professional support through websites associated with a mental health service. This Aotearoa, New Zealand-based study aimed to identify the elements of a website that young people believed would improve engagement with the service. A co-design method enlisted young people’s expertise in making recommendations for mental health service websites. Sixty-seven young people, aged 16-24 years, took part in one of six participatory workshops. The data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Recommendations were for the inclusion of information that validated young people’s help-seeking; showed them exactly what it would be like to use the service; helped them to make informed choices about the support they wanted, and told them what steps they needed to take to get access to the service. Recommendations also included the use of personal stories from other young people illustrating the value of using the service, and for information to be conveyed in a tone that was authentic, respectful, and nonjudgemental. Young people also wanted good functionality from a website and preferred video and other visual modes of presentation. This research offers clear recommendations for websites aimed at improving youth engagement with professional mental health support. A youth-informed approach to website design has the potential to overcome some of the barriers that prevent this population from reaching out for help.
Business · Inclusion (mineral) · Internet privacy · Medical education · Mental health · Participatory action research · Political science · Population · Psychiatry · Public relations · Qualitative research · Service (business) · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Child Welfare and Adoption · Computer Science · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Medicine · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Psychology · Social Psychology
Young people’s help-seeking for mental health problems
Co-design of eHealth Interventions With Children and Young People
The dangerousness of youth-at-risk
Perceived barriers and facilitators to mental health help-seeking in young people
Young Men, Help-Seeking, and Mental Health Services
Do Online Mental Health Services Improve Help-Seeking for Young People? A Systematic Review
Why do children and adolescents (not) seek and access professional help for their mental health problems? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies
Young people's priorities for support on social media
What Young People Want from Mental Health Services
Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis
Barriers and Supports Experienced by Pacific Peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Mental Health Services
Bridging the digital divide
Why would you give your children to something you don’t trust?’
Youth Research in Australia and New Zealand
Profiling a Profession
Help-Negation and Suicidal Ideation
Using thematic analysis in psychology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |