Therapeutic Activities as a Link between Program Usage and Clinical Outcomes in Digital Mental Health Interventions: a Proposed Research Framework

Over the past 15 years, researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers have observed poor program usage of unguided e-mental health interventions in real-world settings. This paper proposes that focusing on impact usage, however, distracts us from mechanism change is linked with targeted clinical outcomes: incorporation therapeutic activities. Uncovering this relationship particularly important digital mental intervention research because activities meant to achieve beneficial outcomes are not always explicit. The presents a framework may help disentangle different conceptual aspects order better investigate between user engagement program, activities, outcomes. Critically, one main challenges involves determining whether use itself tied activity. Such enable understanding how work address design failure points.