INCREASING MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT FOR RURAL YOUNG ADULTS VIA TELE-HEALTH PLATFORMS

Abstract

Mental health challenges among young adults is an increasing public health problem at the global level. Young adults living in rural settings are a group at a higher risk as there are multiple barriers to seeking psychological services. There is a deficiency in the number of professionals available, a shortage of proper healthcare infrastructure, geographic barriers, and the socio-cultural stigma that is present among rural youth. The combination of these factors has led to a significant rural-urban difference in mental healthcare accessibility and in the level of unmet mental health needs, resulting in a long-term negative outcome. Tele-health service is believed to fill the service gap as it enables remote provision of psychological counselling, psychiatric consultations, and other forms of digital therapeutic intervention. The current conceptual review addresses issues pertaining to why Tele-health is expected to be a potential solution to the existing gap in delivering mental health service to the rural young adult. It relies on two theoretical models- Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989) and Diffusion of Innovations Theory (Rogers, 2003)- that try to predict the adoption and usage of these digital mental health applications by rural dwellers. In this review, three major concepts were investigated; Mental health among young adults, access to rural health care, and Tele-health service provision. Potential benefits of Tele-health services were assessed based on factors such as improved access, cost reduction, enhancement in privacy, and high adoption among young adults. Conversely, the barriers such as the digital divide, data privacy concerns and limitations of virtual face-to-face interaction in therapeutic provision are discussed. The review concludes that tele-health may significantly bridge mental health disparity for the rural young adult population; however, the success of these services depends on substantial investment in digital infrastructures, creation of favorable policy environments and ongoing interdisciplinary research on accessibility and efficacy.