Open Collections

Ding, Xiaoxu

University of British Columbia

Background. Seventy-five percent of people with mental health disorders have an onset of illness between 12 and 24 years old. Many in this age group report significant obstacles to receiving quality youth-centred mental health care services. With the rapid development of technology and the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, mobile health (mHealth) presents new opportunities for youth mental health research, practice, and policy. Methods. This multi-methods research project includes a scoping review that assesses the current landscape of mHealth intervention in the field of youth mental health. To understand mHealth usage in the real world, I used a quantitative approach to analyze service access and utilization data across three delivery modality groups at a local integrated youth services (IYS) setting over a 4-year period (2020–2023). This quantitative analysis informed two qualitative studies guided by both inductive and deductive approaches. We investigated the perspectives of stakeholders on mHealth integration and meaningful youth engagement in its design. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews. Results from all studies informed recommendations for mHealth practices and policies. Results. The scoping review revealed rapid growth in mHealth interventions but highlighted significant gaps in youth-centred design, equity, and engagement. Quantitative findings demonstrated patterns of service utilization across three modalities, with hybrid models showing potential for increased accessibility. Qualitative analyses identified critical facilitators and barriers to mHealth integration. Youth engagement emerged as a pivotal factor for sustainable mHealth development, the key to its implementation was identified using the consolidated framework of implementation research. In my summary chapter, I synthesize the findings from all studies and propose next steps for research, practice, and policy. Significance. For youth navigating mental health challenges and technology reforms, mHealth spaces can be exciting but have potential risks. There is an imminent need to understand how to engage youth to design safe and effective tools to deliver high quality care. The goal of this work is to generate new knowledge that provides evidence to support youth mHealth best practices, standards, and health policies in Canada and beyond.

Text

2025-04-10

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/90631

Rehabilitation Sciences

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/