Revisiting the Issue of Trust in E-Health

As people continue to go online for their health information needs we revisit the issue of trust in relation to e-health. This chapter begins by briefly presenting an overview of e-health and describing current ways in which people are using the Internet for health advice and information. Models of trust are revisited and we then explore two emerging areas within the e-health field: peer resources and mobile health applications. Finally, we revisit and update our guidelines and point to further sources of information in this field.

User Experiences and Perceptions of Internet Interventions for Depression

The purpose of this chapter is to review qualitative research on user experiences with internet interventions for depression and present original results from in-depth interviews from a preventive unguided intervention for postpartum depression. The first part reviews the literature on qualitative studies of client experiences and perceptions of internet interventions for depression. The next part describes original data from a study investigating participants' experiences using semi-structured interviews, following the modified SWOT-format (i.e., strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats). In total, 10 pregnant and postpartum women aged 28 to 41 were interviewed. Insights from the current review and study are used as a point of departure for discussing future directions in research on internet interventions for depression. This chapter should be valuable for clinicians, researchers, and other health professionals interested in the applicability of internet interventions for their clients, design of future studies, and development of internet interventions.

Mental Health and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

This chapter reveals the important perspectives on mental health, mental illness, and technology utilization; mental health education and mental health nursing; the overview of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT); CBT, depression, anxiety, and insomnia; CBT and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD); and CBT and heart failure. Mental health strengthens the individuals' ability to have healthy relationships; make good life choices; maintain physical health and well-being; handle the natural ups and downs of life; and grow toward individuals' potential. Mental health is associated with higher productivity, better performance, more consistent work attendance, and fewer workplace accidents. CBT is a goal-oriented psychotherapy treatment that takes a practical approach to problem-solving skills. CBT involves recognizing the unhelpful or destructive patterns of thinking and reacting, thus modifying or replacing these patterns with more realistic or helpful ones.

Treating Sleep Disorders with an ACT-Based Behavior Change Support System

Suitable duration and appropriate quality of sleep are essential for mental and cognitive wellbeing. Sleep disorders, whether mild or severe, have proven to have adverse effects on general wellbeing. One's quality of life could be disturbed as a consequence of various mental conditions, sleep disorders being one of them. Researchers have started paying attention to designing, implementing and evaluating eHealth interventions to address sleep disorders. In this chapter, we highlight findings from a field study that was conducted to evaluate effect of software features on a Web-based intervention for sleep disorders. Tyyne is a Web-based eHealth intervention that will be repeatedly mentioned as Behavior Change Support Systsm (BCSS). Tynne offered weekly modules that were drawn from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). From an Information system's perspective, the modules were identified and applied as a persuasive software feature that is promoted by the Persuasive Systems Design Model (PSD Model). The duration of the Web-based intervention was 6 weeks. Upon completion of the intervention, about one third (37.2%) of the participants reported that they could better manage their sleep problems. We argue that a relatively low percentage is still highly encouraging, as treatment of sleep-related disorders is a complicated and understudied area. Manifestly, longitudinal studies would help determine the effect of ACT-incorporated Web-based interventions. However, the chapter underscores the effect of persuasive software features incorporated with ACT-based components as a step towards managing sleep disorders.

EHealth Interventions for People Suffering From Sleep Problems and Depressive Symptoms

This chapter highlights qualitative findings from two field studies that focused on supporting people with sleeplessness (Study 1) and moderate depression (Study II). Both the studies were designed to examine the prospective impact of reminders and rehearsal on the effectiveness of web- based eHealth interventions. The interventions were incorporated with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. In this chapter, qualitative findings are reported with an aim to highlight issues that are at times overlooked. Further, the findings are expected to help researchers better understand eHealth interventions for mental health care. Results from the two studies uncover interesting contrasts. While the participants of the Study I (Sleeplessness) generally did not find reminders to be helpful, on the contrary, the participants of study II (Moderate Depression) largely approved reminders especially in terms of task completion. In terms of rehearsal, participants from both the studies approved the virtual exercises in terms of learning desirable self-help behaviors. Finally, the chapter highlights some of the grey areas in the field of eHealth interventions for mental health care. The identified grey areas are expected to create opportunities for further research and advances in the field of mental health care.

The Development of Ethical Guidelines for Online Counselling and Psychotherapy

The history and development of guidelines on the ethics of providing online counselling and guidance are considered. Some issues the authors have found to be of particular importance are highlighted with reference to particular publications as exemplars of the ongoing development of ethical practice in this field. Changes in ethical guidelines produced by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) are examined to elucidate the evolution in ethical thinking and practice that has been necessitated by the continual rapid development of technological applications relevant to mental health care that have typified the field and led to the current approach which defines competencies required. The article ends with a look to the advent of web 2.0 philosophies and the need for practitioners to remain constantly vigilant with regard to their work.

Neurotechnology in the Development of Cyber-Psychotherapy Systems for Inducing and Measuring Altered States of Consciousness in Transpersonal Psychotherapy

Transpersonal psychotherapy is based on transpersonal psychology and considers that the psyche is multidimensional and that there are several “levels of consciousness” and each has different characteristics and is governed by different laws. Transpersonal psychology is the study of human nature and proceeds on the assumption that human beings possess potentials that exceed the limits of their ego and integrate the spiritual experience within a broader understanding of the human psyche and consciousness. Altered states of consciousness have been used as psychotherapy in transpersonal psychology for decades. Although there are very well known techniques to induce altered state of consciousness as holotropic breathwork, Neurotechnology offers an alternative way not only to induce these states for transpersonal therapy but also to measure the level of a state of consciousness. The objective of this chapter is to provide a review of the main concepts of Neurotechnology and the main technologies that can be used to induce and measure altered state of consciousness for transpersonal psychotherapy and propose an architecture for a Cyber psychotherapy system that uses these technologies.

An Internet-Based Quantum Biofeedback and Neurotechnology Cybertherapy System for the Support of Transpersonal Psychology

Transpersonal psychology is the study of human nature and proceeds on the assumption that human beings possess potentials that exceed the limits of their ego and integrate the spiritual experience within a broader understanding of the human psyche and consciousness. Altered states of consciousness have been used as psychotherapy in transpersonal psychology for decades. A Cyberpsychotherapy system is proposed to support transpersonal psychotherapy. The system can be used to induce non-ordinary state of consciousness that can be used by transpersonal psychologists as a healing tool to cure his patients with psychological problems such as psychosis at a distance location with the help of Internet technologies. The Cyberpsychotherapy system uses quantum signal generator for the induction of altered states of consciousness based on the God's helmet of Persinger (1983). The Cyberpsychotherapy has integrated an EEG that serves as a biofeedback device in order to assess if the patient has reached the desired level of consciousness and can be used it to adjust the frequencies of the signal generator in order to improve the psychotherapy experience of the patient if necessary. A sample of 10 patients was used to test the Cybertherapy system based on Neurotechnology and quantum biofeedback, data was collected and analyzed. Although the results show that the patients were not able to reach the desired level of consciousness for the psychotherapy, there is statistical significant evidence that the proposed system can help to raise the level of consciousness; this can help with future designs that will eventually assist to reach the desired level for the psychotherapy.

From Science to Practice

This chapter provides a practical hands-on blueprint needed to design and plan the implementation of internet interventions, addressing all the important aspects of the implementation process. The guidelines are based on the active implementation framework by Fixsen and colleagues (2005) and provide readers with a case example of an internet intervention in Norwegian primary care. They describe the “how-to” of implementation from presenting the background of the intervention, the theory behind implementation, actual implementation planning, evaluation, and clinical work. This serves to give stakeholders a common framework for understanding the requirements for implementing an intervention in practice, the activities and resources needed, and may guide an organization through the implementation process. The case example also shows that implementation and clinical guidelines are mutually affected by each other, and should be developed and viewed together.