Abstract
BackgroundDespite the increasing amount of research on Web-based mental health interventions with proven efficacy, high attrition rates decrease their effectiveness. Continued process evaluations should be performed to maximize the target population’s engagement. Google Analytics has been used to evaluate various health-related Web-based programs and may also be useful for Web-based mental health programs.ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to evaluate WalkAlong.ca, a youth-oriented mental health web-portal, using Google Analytics to inform the improvement strategy for the platform and to demonstrate the use of Google Analytics as a tool for process evaluation of Web-based mental health interventions.MethodsGoogle Analytics was used to monitor user activity during WalkAlong’s first year of operation (Nov 13, 2013-Nov 13, 2014). Selected Google Analytic variables were overall website engagement including pages visited per session, utilization rate of specific features, and user access mode and location.ResultsThe results included data from 3076 users viewing 29,299 pages. Users spent less average time on Mindsteps (0 minute 35 seconds) and self-exercises (1 minute 08 seconds), which are important self-help tools, compared with that on the Screener tool (3 minutes 4 seconds). Of all visitors, 82.3% (4378/5318) were desktop users, followed by 12.7 % (677/5318) mobile phone and 5.0% (263/5318) tablet users. Both direct traffic (access via URL) and referrals by email had more than 7 pages viewed per session and longer than average time of 6 minutes per session. The majority of users (67%) accessed the platform from Canada.ConclusionsEngagement and feature utilization rates are higher among people who receive personal invitations to visit the site. Low utilization rates with specific features offer a starting place for further exploration of users in order to identify the root cause. The data provided by Google Analytics, although informative, can be supplemented by other evaluation methods (ie, qualitative methods) in order to better determine the modifications required to improve user engagement. Google Analytics can play a vital role in highlighting the preferences of those using Web-based mental health tools.
Highlights
As technologies such as internet, mobile phones, and computers have become ubiquitous, Web-based interventions have become one of the major treatment and preventative tools for mental disorders
The first year of operation for the WalkAlong platform saw a total of 3076 users, amounting to 5318 sessions and 29,299 page views (Figure 3)
The reason for the disengagement is unclear, as it could be due to acquiring information that is needed early on, this finding does not contradict the pre-existing concerns about lack of engagement evidenced by Web-based mental health interventions [3,4,5]
Summary
As technologies such as internet, mobile phones, and computers have become ubiquitous, Web-based interventions have become one of the major treatment and preventative tools for mental disorders. The potential of Web-based mental health interventions to effectively and efficiently treat and prevent mental illnesses has attracted many health care providers and researchers to explore using them as one of the major components of the mental health care system. Despite their promising benefits, online mental health interventions face problems in engagement [3,4,5]. Selected Google Analytic variables were overall website engagement including pages visited per session, utilization rate of specific features, and user access mode and location. Google Analytics can play a vital role in highlighting the preferences of those using Web-based mental health tools
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