Waiting Lists for Psychotherapy and Provider Attitudes Toward Low-Intensity Treatments as Potential Interventions: Survey Study.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Peipert, Allison Krendl, Anne C Lorenzo-Luaces, Lorenzo
Editor	Mavragani, Amaryllis
Copyright Year	2022
Abstract	BackgroundCommon mental disorders, including depression and anxiety, are leading causes of disability worldwide. Digital mental health interventions, such as web-based self-help and other low-intensity treatments (LITs) that are not digital (eg, bibliotherapy), have the potential to reach many individuals by circumventing common barriers present in traditional mental health care. It is unclear how often LITs are used in clinical practice, or whether providers would be interested in their use for treatment waiting lists.ObjectiveThe aims of this study were to (1) describe current practices for treatment waiting lists, (2) describe providers’ attitudes toward digital and nondigital LITs for patients on a waiting list, and (3) explore providers’ willingness to use digital and nondigital LITs and their decisions to learn about them.MethodsWe surveyed 141 practicing mental health care providers (eg, therapists and psychologists) and provided an opportunity for them to learn about LITs.ResultsMost participants reported keeping a waiting list. Few participants reported currently recommending digital or nondigital LITs, though most were willing to use at least one for patients on their waiting list. Attitudes toward digital and nondigital LITs were neutral to positive. Guided digital and nondigital LITs were generally perceived to be more effective but less accessible, and unguided interventions were perceived to be less effective but more accessible. Most participants selected to access additional information on LITs, with the most popular being web-based self-help.ConclusionsResults suggest providers are currently not recommending LITs for patients on treatment waiting lists but would be willing to recommend them. Future work should explore barriers and facilitators to implementing digital and nondigital LITs for patients on treatment waiting lists.
Journal	JMIR Formative Research
Volume Number	6
PubMed Central reference number	PMC9526124
Issue Number	9
PubMed reference number	36112400
e-ISSN	2561326X
DOI	10.2196/39787
Language	English
Publisher	JMIR Publications
Publisher Date	2022-09-16
Publisher Place	Toronto, Canada
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Formative Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://formative.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included. ©Allison Peipert, Anne C Krendl, Lorenzo Lorenzo-Luaces. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (https://formative.jmir.org), 16.09.2022.
Subject Keyword	psychotherapy CBT cognitive behavioral therapy behavior therapy digital mental health self-help support group mental health digital health eHealth low-intensity intervention survey waiting list health system health care delivery health care professional care provider bibliotherapy attitude perception digital intervention web-based intervention depression anxiety mental disorder
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Health Informatics Medicine