Abstract
BackgroundWeb-based counseling and support has become increasingly commonplace for children and young people (CYP). Currently, there is limited research that focuses on the mechanisms of change within complex telepsychology platforms, a factor that makes designing and implementing outcome measures challenging.ObjectiveThis project aims to articulate a theory of change (ToC) for Kooth, a web-based therapy and support platform for CYP.MethodsA collaborative qualitative research design involving professional staff, academic partners, and young people was used to develop the ToC. The following three major reflective phases were engaged: a scoping workshop involving professional staff and academic partners, a series of explorative projects were completed to inform the development of the ToC, and the draft ToC was reviewed for coherence by key stakeholders (young people, online professionals, and service managers).ResultsA collaboratively developed ToC was presented. This was divided into the conditions that lead to individuals wanting to access web-based therapy and support (eg, individuals wanting support there and then or quickly), the mode of service delivery (eg, skilled and experienced professionals able to build empathetic relationships with CYP), and the observed and reported changes that occur as a consequence of using the service (eg, individuals being better able to manage current and future situations).ConclusionsDeveloping the ToC helps to shed light on how web-based therapy and support services aid the mental health and well-being of CYP. Furthermore, it helps to understand the development of positive virtual ecosystems and can be used to devise evaluative tools for CYP telepsychology providers.
Highlights
This paper reports a study conducted as a collaboration between professionals working for Kooth and academic researchers working within the United Kingdom
The final phase of the work, which involved producing a public facing output, was approved by the University Research Ethics Committee of the fourth author (JP). This project set out to develop a theory of change (ToC) for web-based therapy and support services, Kooth
The ToC includes elements common to ToC methodology and has been adjusted in areas to fit the needs of the Kooth service
Summary
Kooth is a web-based counseling and support service for young people and young adults (aged 11-25 years). It is anonymous at the point of access, with young users typically finding out about the service through educational providers and only having to provide limited information on registration. In 2019, it received approximately 1700 log-ins per day, a figure that increased to just over 3000 log-ins on the day in which the COVID-19 pandemic caused schools to be shut down and the government to restrict movement of the UK population (March 20, 2020) There is limited research that focuses on the mechanisms of change within complex telepsychology platforms, a factor that makes designing and implementing outcome measures challenging
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