Parental attitudes towards an online, school-based, mental health service: implications for service design and delivery

ABSTRACT

Objective: Parents are important facilitators of mental healthcare for their adolescent children. An online, school-based, mental health service may assist parents in gaining access to care. This study explored parental attitudes towards this new type of service provision.

Method: The study was undertaken in July and August 2016. Semi-structured interviews were used to understand parents’ attitudes towards a proposed online, school-based service called Smooth Sailing. Themes were identified through thematic analysis. Fourteen parents were interviewed.

Results: Seven key themes emerged. Parents’ own experiences seeking help and awareness of mental health services, their perceived prevalence of mental health issues in youth and the appropriateness of online and school-delivered care, the desire to be involved in their child’s care, alongside concerns about stigma, service trust and credibility, and the availability of face-to-face support, were all found to influence parents’ attitudes to the proposed service.

Discussion: This study confirmed that parents have both positive and negative attitudes towards online, school-based mental health service provision. By understanding these attitudes, service providers are better equipped to develop strategies to mitigate concerns and promote engagement. In doing so, parents are likely to be more supportive of their child seeking help for mental health in the school setting.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescent
• mental health
• parent
• service delivery
• school

Acknowledgments

The researchers wish to acknowledge the funding body, HSBC Bank, who supported this study. In addition, the researchers would like to thank the parents who participated in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Bridianne O’Dea http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1731-210X

Melinda Achilles http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4246-3412

Catherine King http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3075-7819

Mirjana Subotic-Kerry http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4821-182X

Kathleen O’Moore http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5211-9095

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Australia.