Assesment of information seeking behaviours regarding mental health via internet of chronic mentally ill individuals in community mental health centers

ASSESMENT OF INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOURS REGARDING MENTAL HEALTH VİA INTERNET OF CHRONIC MENTALLY ILL INDIVIDUALS IN COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTERS Abdurrahman Yakışır Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Nursing Department of Psychiatric Nursing ayakisir1212@gmail.com ABSTRACT Objective: The aim of this study is to assesment of information seeking behaviours regarding mental health via ınternet of chronic mentally ill individuals in community mental health centers Method: The study is a descriptive study. The data were collected between October 2017 - May 2018. In the study, the data were collected using; socio-demographic characteristics and internet usage evaluation form. The Questionnaire Form was applied by a researcher to patients who agreed to participate in the study by conducting face-to-face interviews. Descriptive statistics, frequency, mean and chi-kare analysis were used in the evaluation of the data. Findings: 75,6% of the patients stated that they used the internet to do research about mental health problems. While 40,2% of the patients shared the information they found on the internet with the mental health team occasionally; 93,1% stated that they did not contact mental health professionals and 97% did not contact mental health institutions. 56,9% of the patients stated that the internet helped to cope with the disease. It was determined that there was a difference in the state of researching the internet about mental health problems depending on educational background; whereas there was no difference depending on diagnosis, gender, age, income, and researching on the internet according to the place where they live. Conclusion: The health team working at CMHCs should inform the patients about the resources available on the internet about mental health. It is important to encourage individuals who receive service from CMHCs to share information they have acquired on the internet and to conduct interviews so that they can discuss information with the team. Key words: Psychiatric patients, CMHC, mental health, internet use