TY - JOUR
T1 - Why Uptake of Blended Internet-Based Interventions for Depression Is Challenging
T2 - A Qualitative Study on Therapists' Perspectives
AU - Mol, Mayke
AU - van Genugten, Claire
AU - Dozeman, Els
AU - van Schaik, Digna J F
AU - Draisma, Stasja
AU - Riper, Heleen
AU - Smit, Jan H
PY - 2019/12/30
Y1 - 2019/12/30
N2 - (1) Background: Blended cognitive behavioral therapy (bCBT; online and face-to-face sessions) seems a promising alternative alongside regular face-to-face CBT depression treatment in specialized mental health care organizations. Therapists are key in the uptake of bCBT. This study focuses on therapists' perspectives on usability, satisfaction, and factors that promote or hinder the use of bCBT in routine practice; (2) Methods: Three focus groups (n = 8, n = 7, n = 6) and semi-structured in-depth interviews (n = 15) were held throughout the Netherlands. Beforehand, the participating therapists (n = 36) completed online questionnaires on usability and satisfaction. Interviews were analyzed by thematic analysis; (3) Results: Therapists found the usability sufficient and were generally satisfied with providing bCBT. The thematic analysis showed three main themes on promoting and hindering factors: (1) therapists' needs regarding bCBT uptake, (2) therapists' role in motivating patients for bCBT, and (3) therapists' experiences with bCBT; (4) Conclusions: Overall, therapists were positive; bCBT can be offered by all CBT-trained therapists and future higher uptake is expected. Especially the pre-set structure of bCBT was found beneficial for both therapists and patients. Nevertheless, therapists did not experience promised time-savings-rather, the opposite. Besides, there are still teething problems and therapeutic shortcomings that need improvement in order to motivate therapists to use bCBT.
AB - (1) Background: Blended cognitive behavioral therapy (bCBT; online and face-to-face sessions) seems a promising alternative alongside regular face-to-face CBT depression treatment in specialized mental health care organizations. Therapists are key in the uptake of bCBT. This study focuses on therapists' perspectives on usability, satisfaction, and factors that promote or hinder the use of bCBT in routine practice; (2) Methods: Three focus groups (n = 8, n = 7, n = 6) and semi-structured in-depth interviews (n = 15) were held throughout the Netherlands. Beforehand, the participating therapists (n = 36) completed online questionnaires on usability and satisfaction. Interviews were analyzed by thematic analysis; (3) Results: Therapists found the usability sufficient and were generally satisfied with providing bCBT. The thematic analysis showed three main themes on promoting and hindering factors: (1) therapists' needs regarding bCBT uptake, (2) therapists' role in motivating patients for bCBT, and (3) therapists' experiences with bCBT; (4) Conclusions: Overall, therapists were positive; bCBT can be offered by all CBT-trained therapists and future higher uptake is expected. Especially the pre-set structure of bCBT was found beneficial for both therapists and patients. Nevertheless, therapists did not experience promised time-savings-rather, the opposite. Besides, there are still teething problems and therapeutic shortcomings that need improvement in order to motivate therapists to use bCBT.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85096369671&origin=inward
UR - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31905834
U2 - 10.3390/jcm9010091
DO - 10.3390/jcm9010091
M3 - Article
C2 - 31905834
VL - 9
JO - Journal of Clinical Medicine
JF - Journal of Clinical Medicine
SN - 2049-3630
IS - 1
M1 - 91
ER -