TY  - JOUR
AU  - Farrer, Louise
AU  - Gulliver, Amelia
AU  - Chan, Jade KY
AU  - Bennett, Kylie
AU  - Griffiths, Kathleen M
PY  - 2015
DA  - 2015/02/11
TI  - A Virtual Mental Health Clinic for University Students: A Qualitative Study of End-User Service Needs and Priorities
JO  - JMIR Mental Health
SP  - e2
VL  - 2
IS  - 1
KW  - university
KW  - student
KW  - mental health
KW  - online
KW  - qualitative
AB  - Background: Help seeking for mental health problems among university students is low, and Internet-based interventions such as virtual clinics have the potential to provide private, streamlined, and high quality care to this vulnerable group. Objective: The objective of this study was to conduct focus groups with university students to obtain input on potential functions and features of a university-specific virtual clinic for mental health. Methods: Participants were 19 undergraduate students from an Australian university between 19 and 24 years of age. Focus group discussion was structured by questions that addressed the following topics: (1) the utility and acceptability of a virtual mental health clinic for students, and (2) potential features of a virtual mental health clinic. Results: Participants viewed the concept of a virtual clinic for university students favorably, despite expressing concerns about privacy of personal information. Participants expressed a desire to connect with professionals through the virtual clinic, for the clinic to provide information tailored to issues faced by students, and for the clinic to enable peer-to-peer interaction. Conclusions: Overall, results of the study suggest the potential for virtual clinics to play a positive role in providing students with access to mental health support. 
SN  - 2368-7959
UR  - http://mental.jmir.org/2015/1/e2/
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/mental.3890
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26543908
DO  - 10.2196/mental.3890
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/mental.3890
ER  -