Texting may be a more suitable than mobile applications when it comes to treat mentally ill patients, according to scientists at Clemson's School of Computing.
Kelly Caine, who led the study said, "Cell phone technology was in the hands of millions of Americans and early research indicates that it could be useful to help people suffering from some form of mental illness."
Researchers surveyed 325 patients currently receiving treatment at community-based outpatient clinics for mental illness to determine their cell phone ownership and usage patterns. The results showed among mental illness patients, texting was the most popular feature used and downloading apps was the least popular, with almost 80 percent of the patients using texting. There were many who did not use mobile applications.
Thus indicating that texting may be accessible to the majority of patients and may therefore make a more suitable treatment aid. It was also seen that participants who already were comfortable with texting also reported that they were comfortable with the concept of texting their mental health provider, implying that texting may be an appropriate feature for mobile health (mHealth) interventions.
The study has been published in the journal Personal and Ubiquitous Computing.