Understanding stakeholder views of the use of digital therapeutic interventions within children and young people’s mental health services
BackgroundProviding the growing number of children and young people seeking mental health support with timely access to care poses a significant challenge. Increased use of digital technology in the delivery of children and young people’s mental health services has been proposed as a means of increa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1505345/full |
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| author | Brioney Gee Brioney Gee Tim Clarke Tim Clarke Jess Garner Bonnie Teague Bonnie Teague Georgianna Coote Aoife Dunne Rachel McGuire Andrew Laphan Manjul Rathee Jon Wilson Jon Wilson |
| author_facet | Brioney Gee Brioney Gee Tim Clarke Tim Clarke Jess Garner Bonnie Teague Bonnie Teague Georgianna Coote Aoife Dunne Rachel McGuire Andrew Laphan Manjul Rathee Jon Wilson Jon Wilson |
| author_sort | Brioney Gee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundProviding the growing number of children and young people seeking mental health support with timely access to care poses a significant challenge. Increased use of digital technology in the delivery of children and young people’s mental health services has been proposed as a means of increasing access to treatment.MethodsWe conducted three interrelated studies to provide multi-perspective insights into the use of digital therapeutic interventions within children and young people’s mental health services in the UK. Study 1 used semi-structured interviews and an online survey to collect the views of digital therapeutic interventions of families who self-identified as facing additional barriers to accessing mental health support (n=13). Study 2 involved eight focus groups with children and young people’s clinicians, service managers, commissioners, and policy leads (n=28), exploring participants’ views and experiences of implementing and sustaining digital therapeutic interventions. Study 3 was a consensus exercise which aimed to identify actions needed to bridge the gap between the development and use of digital therapeutic interventions for children and young people’s mental health through focus groups with parents/carers and professionals (n=17), and three Delphi-survey rounds.ResultsOur findings revealed considerable enthusiasm for the increased use of digital mental health interventions for children and young people across stakeholder groups, but also identified key barriers to their implementation. Actions perceived to facilitate more effective implementation included: a) co-producing interventions, commissioning decisions and implementation plans with children and parents/carers, b) enhancing national guidance and local leadership, c) integration of digital offers within existing clinical pathways, and d) efforts to ensure accessibility and inclusivity.DiscussionDigital therapeutic interventions offer a promising solution to the challenge of improving access to mental health support for children and young people. Strengthened guidance and leadership, sustained funding and further evidence-generation are urgently needed to enable this promise to be realised. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-688fdb19807a430996c91d19244c1d0a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1664-0640 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj-art-688fdb19807a430996c91d19244c1d0a2025-02-11T06:59:29ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402025-02-011610.3389/fpsyt.2025.15053451505345Understanding stakeholder views of the use of digital therapeutic interventions within children and young people’s mental health servicesBrioney Gee0Brioney Gee1Tim Clarke2Tim Clarke3Jess Garner4Bonnie Teague5Bonnie Teague6Georgianna Coote7Aoife Dunne8Rachel McGuire9Andrew Laphan10Manjul Rathee11Jon Wilson12Jon Wilson13Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Hellesdon Hospital, Norwich, United KingdomNorwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United KingdomNorfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Hellesdon Hospital, Norwich, United KingdomNorwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United KingdomUnit C, Health Innovation East, Cambridge, United KingdomNorfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Hellesdon Hospital, Norwich, United KingdomNorwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United KingdomUnit C, Health Innovation East, Cambridge, United KingdomNorfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Hellesdon Hospital, Norwich, United KingdomIndependent Researcher, Manchester, United KingdomNorfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Hellesdon Hospital, Norwich, United KingdomBFB Labs, Shift Design, London, United KingdomNorfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Hellesdon Hospital, Norwich, United KingdomNorwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United KingdomBackgroundProviding the growing number of children and young people seeking mental health support with timely access to care poses a significant challenge. Increased use of digital technology in the delivery of children and young people’s mental health services has been proposed as a means of increasing access to treatment.MethodsWe conducted three interrelated studies to provide multi-perspective insights into the use of digital therapeutic interventions within children and young people’s mental health services in the UK. Study 1 used semi-structured interviews and an online survey to collect the views of digital therapeutic interventions of families who self-identified as facing additional barriers to accessing mental health support (n=13). Study 2 involved eight focus groups with children and young people’s clinicians, service managers, commissioners, and policy leads (n=28), exploring participants’ views and experiences of implementing and sustaining digital therapeutic interventions. Study 3 was a consensus exercise which aimed to identify actions needed to bridge the gap between the development and use of digital therapeutic interventions for children and young people’s mental health through focus groups with parents/carers and professionals (n=17), and three Delphi-survey rounds.ResultsOur findings revealed considerable enthusiasm for the increased use of digital mental health interventions for children and young people across stakeholder groups, but also identified key barriers to their implementation. Actions perceived to facilitate more effective implementation included: a) co-producing interventions, commissioning decisions and implementation plans with children and parents/carers, b) enhancing national guidance and local leadership, c) integration of digital offers within existing clinical pathways, and d) efforts to ensure accessibility and inclusivity.DiscussionDigital therapeutic interventions offer a promising solution to the challenge of improving access to mental health support for children and young people. Strengthened guidance and leadership, sustained funding and further evidence-generation are urgently needed to enable this promise to be realised.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1505345/fullmental healthdigital health technologiesdigital therapeuticschildrenyoung peopleimplementation |
| spellingShingle | Brioney Gee Brioney Gee Tim Clarke Tim Clarke Jess Garner Bonnie Teague Bonnie Teague Georgianna Coote Aoife Dunne Rachel McGuire Andrew Laphan Manjul Rathee Jon Wilson Jon Wilson Understanding stakeholder views of the use of digital therapeutic interventions within children and young people’s mental health services Frontiers in Psychiatry mental health digital health technologies digital therapeutics children young people implementation |
| title | Understanding stakeholder views of the use of digital therapeutic interventions within children and young people’s mental health services |
| title_full | Understanding stakeholder views of the use of digital therapeutic interventions within children and young people’s mental health services |
| title_fullStr | Understanding stakeholder views of the use of digital therapeutic interventions within children and young people’s mental health services |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding stakeholder views of the use of digital therapeutic interventions within children and young people’s mental health services |
| title_short | Understanding stakeholder views of the use of digital therapeutic interventions within children and young people’s mental health services |
| title_sort | understanding stakeholder views of the use of digital therapeutic interventions within children and young people s mental health services |
| topic | mental health digital health technologies digital therapeutics children young people implementation |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1505345/full |
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