Original Research Article
Year: 2020 | Month: August | Volume: 10 | Issue: 8 | Pages: 223-229
Awareness of Mental Health Applications among Smartphone Users in India: A Population-Based Survey
Sneha Chakraverty, Chhavi Arora
Department of Physiotherapy, School of Medical and Allied Sciences, Galgotias University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh
Corresponding Author: Sneha Chakraverty
ABSTRACT
Background and Objectives: In the present era, modern technology has paved the way for multifunctional devices like smart phones and smart watches. There are around 4.3 million smart phone users in India. And with 2.5 million apps – available across Google and Apple’s digital marketplaces, smart phones are impacting day-to-day life in some surprising ways. The smart use of Smartphone increases your brain’s functioning helping to stay active. About 89% of the population in India say they are suffering from stress compared to the global average of 86. The purpose of this study is to find the awareness of mental health applications in Indian smart phone users so that it can be utilized for improving mental health.
Methodology:A population based online survey was conducted wherein 303 responses were documented all across the country to determine the smartphone and health app usage. Subjects were asked to fill the online Google form survey. A cross-sectional survey assessed smartphone and health app usage. Further, three focus group discussions evaluated the needs and apprehensions in using these apps. And the idea of using these applications as a platform for improving brain functions was also discussed.
Results:A total of 303 Indians participated in this online survey. Out of which
50.8% population accepted that they are aware of most of the applications in their phones while 46.2% stated that they are aware of only few applications in their smartphones. Out of these only 30.2% are aware of mental health applications which shows that irrespective of knowing all the applications of their smartphones most of the population are not aware of mental health apps which suggest the need of awareness of mental health apps among smartphone users in India before launching various mental health applications.
Conclusion:Without awareness among people designing mental health apps (MHApps) will be misleading, as the research results yielded despite the knowledge of almost all the Apps in smartphones the ratio of awareness of people for MHApps is very low which suggests the urgent need of awareness of MHApps among people for better delivery of mental health services in India.
Key words: Mental health, Mental Health Apps (MHApps), Smartphone