Social Connection and Online Engagement: Insights From Interviews With Users of a Mental Health Online Forum.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Over the past 2 decades, online forums for mental health support have emerged as an important tool for improving mental health and well-being. There has been important research that analyzes the content of forum posts, studies on how and why individuals engage with forums, and how extensively forums are used. However, we still lack insights into key questions on how they are experienced from the perspective of their users, especially those in rural and remote settings. OBJECTIVE:The aim of our study was to investigate the dynamics, benefits, and challenges of a generalized peer-to-peer mental health online forum from a user perspective; in particular, to better explore and understand user perspectives on connection, engagement, and support offered in such forums; information and

SUBMITTER: Smith-Merry J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6454344 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature