Access to Mental Health Services

The development of a game-based training environment in mental health care was pursued in a design project. This study aims to deliver user requirements that inform the design of a game-based training environment for mental health care professionals. This environment aims to support mental health care professionals' knowledge and skill enhancement regarding the use of e-mental health (eMH); for example, video calling, mobile apps, web-based treatment modules, and techniques such as virtual or augmented reality.

While there has been increasing interest in the use of gamification in mental health care, there is a lack of design knowledge on how elements from games could be integrated into existing therapeutic treatment activities in a manner that is balanced and effective. To help address this issue, the authors propose a design process framework to support the development of mental health gamification. Based on the concept of experienced game versus therapy worlds, the authors highlight 4 different therapeutic components that could be gamified to increase user engagement.

This study investigated international male videogamers' perspectives on how their access to mental health services could be improved via an open-ended survey question. From a total of 2515 completed surveys, 761 responded to the qualitative question. Of these, the 71 responses that discussed access to and provision of mental healthcare services are reported in this article. Results suggest that digital mental health services were a promising way to reach this group.

To ascertain their readiness to be discharged from care, secure forensic mental health service users are often given restricted access to their local communities. New research was undertaken to explore whether a computer-based serious game could enable service users to explore their responses to community based risk situations in a safe environment. This paper reports first results from working with service users to develop a prototype game that accurately describes their experiences and expectations to lay the foundations for a clinically effective tool and achieve acceptance.