Title:	USING ICT IN OCCUPATIONAL STRESS MANAGEMENT: THE VIEWS AND EXPERIENCES OF SRI LANKAN STRESS EXPERTS
Author(s):	Manoja Weerasekara, Asa Smedberg and Hélène Sandmark
ISBN:	978-989-8533-89-0
Editors:	Mário Macedo
Year:	2019
Edition:	Single
Keywords:	eHealth, e-Mental Health, Health Intervention, Stress Management, Sri Lanka: Stress Expert
Type:	Full Paper
First Page:	163
Last Page:	174
Language:	English
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Full Contents:	click to dowload
Paper Abstract:	ICT supported health intervention is a phenomenon that has grown stronger in recent years. Although eHealth and mHealth care are an expanding area of ICT, the development has not been as significant as in other fields. Successful implementation of eHealth or e-mental health applications requires close collaboration between healthcare practitioners and system developers. Complex and multilayered factors determine healthcare practitioners’ intention to use ICT in their practice. This study aims to understand the Sri Lankan stress experts’ experience and perception of using ICT tools in their stress management practices. Eight stress experts in Sri Lanka were interviewed. Through thematic analysis, we identified three main themes and multiple subthemes. Results show that practitioners used only a limited set of internet resources in their stress management practices and preferred face-to-face consultations over distance/online communication. Overall, they appreciated the immediate benefits of ICT interventions while highlighting disutilities like the risk of misleading information and insufficient access to resources. Moreover, clients were regarded as empowered through increased access to new and more information. They were also encouraged to make their own decisions to a greater extent. However, there were also objections from practitioners who were reluctant to accept the client’s ability to make decisions through self-education. This study can possibly provide a better understanding of the impact of ICT on stress management practices and knowledge to design and develop ICT tools for stress management.
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