As a former Inverell resident and graduate of Inverell Public and Macintyre High, Jessica Arentz understands the difficulties many rural residents face with not having easy and quick access to many health services, especially those related to mental health. Being placed on long waiting lists to receive treatments is a common occurrence in rural and regional areas, and often can be the reason people do not receive treatment at all. Jessica’s experiences growing up in a regional area have not only shaped her career aspiration of becoming a Clinical Psychologist but have made her passionate about ensuring those in rural and regional areas can obtain the required psychological services when needed.
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The current research
Jessica is currently part of a research team at Griffith University who are looking into psychological services that can be delivered online via the internet and through technologies such as smartphone and tablets. Such online services include skype and email counselling, online discussion/chat forums, and online programs and games. In addition to these, psychological help can also be given through smartphone and tablets applications such as those that target sleep, stress, anxiety and even depression and eating disorders. Studies into the effectiveness of these new online and technology based mental health programs have shown that they are comparable in effectiveness to traditional face-to-face therapy and consequently have great promise in allowing those in rural and regional areas to have immediate access to a variety of psychological treatments.
Despite such a promising new approach to treating mental health concerns, online and technology based mental health programs have shown to have large problems with people dropping out and not completing their full treatment. The major aim of the research Jessica is conducting is to investigate what things cause individuals to stop using these programs. With this information Jessica and the Griffith research team hope to assist psychologists in designing better programs as well as allowing psychologists to identify possible barriers that clients may have to these forms of treatment.
What you can do to help
So that this research can be conducted and assist those in rural and regional areas, Jessica requires participants for her study. If you are a person who is 18 years of age or older and who currently uses any form of online or technology based mental health program or application you are eligible to participate in her study. Participation requires answering a brief online survey consisting of questions regarding your experiences with online and technology based programs. If you wish to participate in this research you can access it online via the following website: https://prodsurvey.rcs.griffith.edu.au/prodls200/index.php/245945?lang=en
Incentives for participating in this research include a prize draw of 6, $50 prepaid gift cards.
If you have any questions regarding this research or you would like the study link emailed to you, please contact Jessica on jessica.arentz@griffithuni.edu.au
