Depression is a worldwide health issue to which various physical, psychological, and social health problems are attributable. To address the issue through the promotion of digital mental healthcare content use, this study examines factors influencing people’s intentions to use the content, guided by the technology acceptance model and uses and gratifications theory. A total of 278 students and faculty/staff members at a Korean university tried using a digital mental healthcare content (e.g., artificial intelligence chatbot content) called MyMentalPocket and completed a survey questionnaire associated with their perceptions of the content. Participants’ depression levels, perceived usefulness, and parasocial interactions emerged as significant and positive factors influencing people’s intentions to use MyMentalPocket. Female gender, younger age, and specific motives for depression-related digital technology use (i.e., communication and emotional support, information- and guidance-seeking, and habitual entertainment-seeking motives) emerged as significant and positive factors influencing parasocial interactions. Parasocial interactions and perceived ease of use emerged as significant and positive factors influencing perceived usefulness. The findings from this study imply the utility of AI chatbots as a way to help people, especially females and younger people with depression and interpersonal difficulties, to utilize and benefit from digital mental healthcare content for depression management.

To better understand the utility of YouTube as a health communication medium, this study utilizes Uses and Gratifications Theory to examine a relationship among motives for health-related YouTube use, cognitive involvement with health information on YouTube, post-exposure online activity, and health-related sense of empowerment. Surveys were analyzed from 263 participants who reported using YouTube for health-related reasons. Results revealed specific motives for health-related YouTube use and a significant relationship among the variables. Implications for how health care professionals could use YouTube for communicating with users about health-related topics and empowering them in health care are discussed.

The majority of middle-aged to older patients with chronic conditions report forgetting to take medications as prescribed. The promotion of patients' smartphone medication reminder app (SMRA) use shows promise as a feasible and cost-effective way to support their medication adherence. Providing training on SMRA use, guided by the technology acceptance model (TAM), could be a promising intervention to promote patients' app use. The aim of this pilot study was to (1) assess the feasibility of an SMRA training session designed to increase patients' intention to use the app through targeting perceived usefulness of app, perceived ease of app use, and positive subjective norm regarding app use and (2) understand the ways to improve the design and implementation of the training session in a hospital setting. A two-group design was employed. A total of 11 patients older than 40 years (median=58, SD=9.55) and taking 3 or more prescribed medications took part in the study on one of two different dates as participants in either the training group (n=5) or nontraining group (n=6). The training group received an approximately 2-hour intervention training session designed to target TAM variables regarding one popular SMRA, the Medisafe app. The nontraining group received an approximately 2-hour control training session where the participants individually explored Medisafe app features. Each training session was concluded with a one-time survey and a one-time focus group. Mann-Whitney U tests revealed that the level of perceived ease of use (P=.13) and the level of intention to use an SMRA (P=.33) were higher in the training group (median=7.00, median=6.67, respectively) than in the nontraining group (median=6.25, median=5.83). However, the level of perceived usefulness (U=4.50, Z=-1.99, P=.05) and the level of positive subjective norm (P=.25) were lower in the training group (median=6.50, median=4.29) than in the nontraining group (median=6.92, median=4.50). Focus groups revealed the following participants' perceptions of SMRA use in the real-world setting that the intervention training session would need to emphasize in targeting perceived usefulness and positive subjective norm: (1) the participants would find an SMRA to be useful if they thought the app could help address specific struggles in medication adherence in their lives and (2) the participants think that their family members (or health care providers) might view positively the participants' SMRA use in primary care settings (or during routine medical checkups). Intervention training session, guided by TAM, appeared feasible in targeting patients' perceived ease of use and, thereby, increasing intention to use an SMRA. Emphasizing the real-world utility of SMRA, the training session could better target patients' perceived usefulness and positive subjective norm that are also important in increasing their intention to use the app.