Online mental health communities supporting mental health

Objectives/Purpose. The online platform can be a beneficial resource for those experiencing mental health issues, having numerous provisions to support mental health with one such resource available being online mental health communities (OMHCs). Design/Background. This research in progress consists of three studies exploring the online provision of OMHCs, of both user and moderator experiences from one US administrated (but globally utilised) OMHC. The three studies aim to explore user experience, the moderator role and the transition from online to offline support, so that recommendations may be given to the online and offline platform alike. Methods Study 1 was an online questionnaire completed by 128 users of the OMHC. The questionnaire consisted of exploratory questions regarding user experience. Study 2 explores the role of the moderator and the research involves email interviews with 7 OMHC moderators to investigate the positive and negative aspects of the role and the reason behind volunteering. Study 3 explores via online interview how users utilise OMHCs to transition to offline support if they need more support than the online platform can provide. Results. Study 1 results showed that users gain emotional and informational support from OMHCs and showed interesting insights into the transition from online to offline support as well as the role of the moderator on OMHCs. These insights led to the following 2 studies currently in the data collection phase. Conclusions This research hopes to provide insight into the role online mental health communities can have to support mental health, increasing the potential of online support for mental health