[Public mental health and the rise of eCommunities: a case study of PsychosisNet.nl]. / Publieke ggz en de opkomst van e-community's: een casestudy van PsychoseNet.nl.

ABSTRACT

Background The annual prevalence of mental disorders is 20% whereas the Dutch mental health care system annually can cater no more than 7%. This suggests a need for public mental health care, parallel to traditional one-on-one treatment services. Multi-expert eCommunities are a novel phenomenon that appear to meet part of the public mental health care need. Aim The current analysis is a case study of PsychoseNet.nl, a multi-expert eCommunity that was launched in 2015 and now has 1.5 million annual visitors. It presents a range of static and dynamic content in the realm of psychoeducation, recovery narratives, self-management, empowerment, building resilience, interactive platforms and online consulting. Methods We describe explorative and descriptive analyses on usage and functionality of PsychoseNet.nl, using the Google Analytics framework. Results PsychoseNet.nl was visited by more than three million users, generating more than 13 million pageviews. Users mainly originated from the Netherlands and Belgium. Popular sections of the website were online counseling, chat, forum and blogs. Conclusion eCommunities such as PsychoseNet.nl appear to fill a gap, and further research is required on health impact and the place of public mental health initiatives in the system of mental health services. An English version of the site was recently started as Psychosisnet.com. Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie 63(2021)1, 56-63.