How Online Psychotherapy Platforms Facilitate Accessibility to Mental Health Services in Cairo; The Case of Shezlong Mental Therapy Platform

Abstract

Mental disorders are considered as one of the biggest causes of disabilities that are common in several countries. Egypt lacks societal awareness of mental illness and mental health maintenance that could be attributed to the cultural and religious influence on the society which certainly affects the accessibility to mental care. Whether due to financial barriers, social barriers or privacy issues the concept of mental health and mental wellbeing is not fully developed in Egypt. With the technology advancements we’re experiencing today Telemedicine is becoming a popular way of practicing medicine and delivering medical services specially in mental health. Shezlong is one of the most popular online platforms offering mental health services to those in need, utilizing the power and convenience of the technology to overcome the barriers of access specially in Egypt. The utilized theoretical framework comprised 10 dimensions acting either as barriers or facilitators to accessibility to mental healthcare. The research design is descriptive with the correlational and inferential statistics type of instrumentation. The data will be collected via a structured questionnaire. The correlation and regression analysis revealed that “Acceptability, Affordability, Ability to seek, Availability and Accommodation, Ability to pay, Appropriateness, Ability to engage and Ability to reach” are the main barriers that influence the Egyptian patients to accessibility to mental services. The results suggest that the higher the levels of these specific dimensions, the higher degree of accessibility will be experienced by the patient.