Preferences for a mental health support technology among Chinese employees: mixed methods approach
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Published version
OA Location
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background:
Workplace mental health is under-studied in China, making it difficult to design effective interventions. To encourage the engagement with interventions, it is crucial to understand employees’ motivation toward seeking help through technologies.
Objective:
This study aimed to understanding how Chinese employees view digital mental health support technology and how mental health support technology could be designed to boost the motivation of Chinese employees to use it.
Methods:
A mixed methods approach was used. In total, 458 Chinese employees (248/458, 54% female) in 5 industries (manufacturing, software, medical, government, and education) responded to a survey, and 14 employees and 5 managers were interviewed.
Results:
Government data and employee responses showed that mental health support in China is limited. In the workplace, Chinese employees experience a lower sense of autonomy satisfaction compared with competence and relatedness. Although managers and employees try to empathize with those who have mental health issues, discrimination and the stigma of mental illness are rife in Chinese workplaces. Digital technologies are perceived as a potential medium for mental health interventions; however, privacy is a major concern.
Conclusions:
The results of this study demonstrated the potential of self-help digital mental health support for Chinese employees. Interdisciplinary cooperation between design engineers and mental health researchers can contribute toward understanding the issues that engage or disengage users with digital mental health interventions.
Workplace mental health is under-studied in China, making it difficult to design effective interventions. To encourage the engagement with interventions, it is crucial to understand employees’ motivation toward seeking help through technologies.
Objective:
This study aimed to understanding how Chinese employees view digital mental health support technology and how mental health support technology could be designed to boost the motivation of Chinese employees to use it.
Methods:
A mixed methods approach was used. In total, 458 Chinese employees (248/458, 54% female) in 5 industries (manufacturing, software, medical, government, and education) responded to a survey, and 14 employees and 5 managers were interviewed.
Results:
Government data and employee responses showed that mental health support in China is limited. In the workplace, Chinese employees experience a lower sense of autonomy satisfaction compared with competence and relatedness. Although managers and employees try to empathize with those who have mental health issues, discrimination and the stigma of mental illness are rife in Chinese workplaces. Digital technologies are perceived as a potential medium for mental health interventions; however, privacy is a major concern.
Conclusions:
The results of this study demonstrated the potential of self-help digital mental health support for Chinese employees. Interdisciplinary cooperation between design engineers and mental health researchers can contribute toward understanding the issues that engage or disengage users with digital mental health interventions.
Date Issued
2022-10-01
Date Acceptance
2022-11-09
Citation
JMIR Human Factors, 2022, 9 (4)
ISSN
2292-9495
Publisher
JMIR Publications
Journal / Book Title
JMIR Human Factors
Volume
9
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
©Sijin Sun, Zheyuan Zhang, Mu Tian, Celine Mougenot, Nick Glozier, Rafael A Calvo. Originally published in JMIR Human Factors (https://humanfactors.jmir.org), 22.12.2022. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Human Factors, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://humanfactors.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
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Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000996482000024&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=a2bf6146997ec60c407a63945d4e92bb
Subjects
China
digital health
Health Care Sciences & Services
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Medical Informatics
mental health
Science & Technology
workplace
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
Canada
Article Number
e40933
Date Publish Online
2022-12-22