Finding help for OCD in Australia: development and evaluation of a clinician directory

Figures & data

Table 1. Requirements for clinician directory.

Requirement	Proposed Acceptance Criteria
People seeking help for OCD should be able to quickly identify clinicians who provide treatment in this problem area.	The directory will give users the option to filter results so that they can view only clinicians who specifically offer evidence-based treatments for OCD.
People seeking help for OCD should be able to access information that represents the widest possible range of evidence-based providers.	The directory will allow any AHPRA-approved mental health clinician to be listed. There will be no pre-requisite that they belong to a specific profession or association. Membership or listing fees will not be a barrier to clinicians being listed.
People seeking help for OCD should be able to find providers who have a high likelihood of offering evidence-based treatment.	Before being publicly listed, there will be some form of specific validation that the clinician understands and will offer an evidence-based treatment specific to OCD, such as exposure and response prevention.

AHPRA = Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.

Table 2. Existing clinician directories.

Publisher	Link
Australian Association of Psychologists	https://www.aapi.org.au/FindaPsychologist
Australian Clinical Psychology Association	https://acpa.org.au/Web/Web/Find-a-CP/FACP.aspx
Australian Psychological Society	https://psychology.org.au/find-a-psychologist
International OCD Foundation	https://iocdf.org/find-help/
NOCD	https://www.treatmyocd.com/therapists
Psychology Today	https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/counselling/
The Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists	https://www.yourhealthinmind.org/find-a-psychiatrist

Table 3. Clinical history and treatment journeys in years.

Duration	Mean (SD)	Median	Min	Max
Since symptom onset	14.39 (13.29)	8.0	1.0	55.0
Since diagnosis	5.73 (7.32)	2.5	1.0	32.0
Since treatment begun	5.38 (7.16)	2.5	0.5	32.0
Between symptoms and diagnosis	8.66 (12.02)	4.0	0.0	48.0
Between diagnosis and treatment	0.36 (1.68)	0.0	−5.0	5.0
Duration of untreated illness^a	9.02 (12.14)	5.0	0.0	50.0

Based on full data provided by N = 28 participants. One participant was omitted from this table as they indicated they were yet to receive a professional diagnosis. ^aFidelity of treatment was not assessed and may not have been in line with evidence-based treatment for OCD.

Table 4. Barriers to seeking or receiving treatment.

Barrier	N	Percent^a
I was unsure about who to see or where to go.	16	59%
I felt ashamed of my problems.	15	56%
I wanted to handle it on my own.	14	52%
I worried about what people would think if they knew I was in treatment.	12	44%
I was not comfortable discussing my problems with a mental health professional.	11	41%
I was worried about how much it would cost.	10	37%
I received treatment before and it didn’t work.	10	37%
I could not get an appointment.	9	33%
I was not comfortable telling my GP about my symptoms.	9	33%
I felt ashamed of needing help for my problem.	8	30%
I didn’t think treatment would work.	8	30%
I was not satisfied with the treatments that were available.	6	22%
I thought it would be too inconvenient or take too much time.	4	15%
I was afraid of being criticised by my family if I sought professional help.	4	15%
I was scared about being put in a hospital against my will.	4	15%
I was scared about problems with the law or police.	2	7%

Items adapted from (Marques et al., 2010). Five participants (18.5%) also disclosed experiences with clinicians who either did not identify OCD or provide appropriate treatment. ^aPercentage of total respondents to this question (n = 27) who endorsed each barrier.

Table 5. Benchmarked user experience scores.

Scale (theme)	Mean	Comparison to benchmarks
Attractiveness (overall impression)	0.82	Below average^a
Perspicuity (ease of use)	1.38	Above Average^b
Efficiency (effort and speed)	1.19	Above Average^b
Dependability (security and predictability)	1.26	Above Average^b
Stimulation (fun and excitement)	0.90	Below Average^a
Novelty (creativity and interest)	−0.13	Bad^c

^a50% of results better, 25% of results worse; ^b25% of results better, 50% of results worse; ^cWithin the range of the 25% worst results. N = 18 respondents.

Table 6. Themes from qualitative feedback.

Theme	Example	N
Aesthetics divided opinion	“Eye-catching … great to see diversity” “[collage of faces] makes me feel a bit uncomfortable” “bland and medical looking”	11
Reduce clinical jargon	“I didn’t understand many of the [search options]” “Not sure of the various types of qualifications” “text heavy … [communicate via] audio, video, imagery”	7
Continue adding providers	“not enough people specializing in OCD near me” “No providers in [city] but telehealth is … great”.	6
Directory provided hope	“I feel hopeful of finding help (and wish this existed sooner)” “I have just been waiting for OCD experts, but this site provides a number of names… Thank you”.	4
Clarify added value	“Really similar to other [directories], but could be useful to have an OCD specific one” “Better than trying to [use a search engine]”	4

Marques, L., LeBlanc, N. J., Weingarden, H. M., Timpano, K. R., Jenike, M., & Wilhelm, S. (2010). Barriers to treatment and service utilization in an internet sample of individuals with obsessive–compulsive symptoms. Depression and Anxiety, 27(5), 470–475. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.20694

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Data availability statement

Data are available from the authors upon reasonable request.