Abstract
AbstractWebchat counselling is increasingly utilised to deliver mental health services to young people. Despite potential barriers to its delivery, a systematic investigation has not yet been conducted. This qualitative study examined barriers and enablers to the delivery of webchat counselling through text communication and identified possible strategies to tackle these, on behalf of counsellors volunteering for an online charity offering psychological support to young people aged below 25. The current investigation was conducted using the Behaviour Change Wheel, a validated and systematic framework employed to guide intervention development and optimisation. Qualitative interviews were carried out with eight volunteers. Thematic analysis identified 11 core themes. Barriers were lack of online communication skills, lack of training to work online with young people, technical difficulties, reduced technical supervision during out‐of‐office hours, duration of webchat counselling sessions, perceived level of effectiveness, perceived establishment of a therapeutic relationship and perceived confidence in delivering webchat counselling. Enablers were familiarity with technology, flexibility and the absence of physical characteristics. These themes were perceived by counsellors as barriers or enablers depending on factors such as experience with technology and work shifts. Using the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW), intervention functions and behaviour change techniques to address these barriers and optimise the service were identified, such as providing counsellors with training to work online with young people, learning new presence techniques to foster emotional connectedness between counsellors and clients, adding time to sessions to compensate for time taken to complete questionnaires and increasing technical support and supervision during out‐of‐office hours.
Highlights
Mental health difficulties account for 16% of the global burden of disease and injury in young people across the world (Kessler et al, 2007)
The current study addresses this research gap by employing the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW), a systematic and validated framework to design, implement and evaluate behaviour change interventions (Michie et al, 2014)
The current study identified barriers and enablers to the delivery of webchat counselling on behalf of volunteer counsellors and, using the BCW, systematically provided solutions to optimise the delivery of the service and improve counsellors’ experience
Summary
Mental health difficulties account for 16% of the global burden of disease and injury in young people across the world (Kessler et al, 2007). The World Health Organisation (2019) indicates that young people are at risk of suffering from psychological distress and mental health difficulties, with approximately 20% of adolescents experiencing mental health difficulties in any given year. Mental health difficulties account for 16% of the global burden of disease and injury in young people across the world (Kessler et al, 2007). The World Health Organisation (2019) indicates that young people are at risk of suffering from psychological distress and mental health difficulties, with approximately 20% of adolescents experiencing mental health difficulties in any given year. One of the approaches that has become increasingly utilised to offer psychological support is webchat counselling. Delivery of webchat counselling through text communication is a behaviour that has been associated with several enablers and barriers. There has been no attempt to identify the barriers and enablers to the delivery of webchat counselling and pinpoint strategies for improvement using a systematic framework
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