Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32110429›Full record

ArticleDigital health

Barriers to older adults' uptake of mobile-based mental health interventions.

Jake Pywell, Santosh Vijaykumar, Alyson Dodd, Lynne Coventry

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Digital health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
71citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
8.8field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

71 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 153 citations in OpenAlex.

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  6. Combined Psychoeducational and Exercise Training Intervention to Improve Mental Health and Physical Functioning in Late-Life: A Randomized Controlled Trial.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2026
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  11. Beyond tumor biology: nursing interventions for psychological and immune health in cancer patients.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
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11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Jake PywellDepartment of Psychology, Northumbria University, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5927-2620
Santosh VijaykumarDepartment of Psychology, Northumbria University, UK.
Alyson DoddDepartment of Psychology, Northumbria University, UK.
Lynne CoventryDepartment of Psychology, Northumbria University, UK.
Northumbria University · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTo address increasing demand of mental healthcare treatments for older adults and the need to reduce delivery costs, healthcare providers are turning to mobile applications. The importance of psychological barriers have been highlighted in the uptake of mobile-based mental health interventions and efforts have been made to identify these barriers in order to facilitate initial uptake and acceptance. However, limited research has focused on older adults' awareness of these applications and factors that might be hindering their use.

objectiveThe purpose of this study was to explore the perceived barriers that older adults experience in the uptake of mobile-based mental health interventions.

methodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 10 older adults, 50 years or older (female = 7, mean age = 68 years), who experienced periods of low mood. National Health Service applications were demonstrated to facilitate conversation and explore participants' understanding of mental health and mobile-based mental health interventions. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview transcripts.

resultsThe social ecological model was adopted as an organising framework for the thematic analysis which identified six distinct barriers to older adults' uptake of mobile-based mental health interventions: mental electronic-health (e-health) awareness, interaction with technology, discontinuation, 'seeing' facilitates therapeutic alliance, incongruent role of the general practitioner and privacy and confidentiality.

conclusionsOlder adults experience a number of barriers to uptake ranging from the individual level to a macro, organisational level. The practical implications of these barriers are discussed such as the need for increased awareness of mobile-based mental health interventions among older adults.

Indexed as

barrierse-healthMobile healthmobile interventionsolder adults

Identifiers

PMID32110429
PMCPMC7016304
OpenAlexW3006114856

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.