Recently the American Psychological Association published a Speaking of Psychology podcast (and transcript) about the One Mind PsyberGuide—a mental health app rating service. While I wasn’t paying attention, mental health apps have proliferated.
Visiting the About One Mind PsyberGuide page, we learn
“One Mind PsyberGuide now operates out of the University of California, Irvine and Northwestern University where our team consists of experts in mental health, technology, and technology delivered care. One Mind PsyberGuide is not an industry website; its goal is to provide accurate and reliable information free of preference, bias, or endorsement.”
Their mental health app rating system—applied by professional reviewers—includes three main criteria: credibility, user experience, and transparency. Not all of the 196 apps in their database have complete reviews as of this writing.
The following is a suggested assignment for the Intro Psych therapy chapter.
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One challenge for consumers when looking at mental health services is determining what has good scientific evidence backing it and what is closer to quackery.
The One Mind PsyberGuide is a website that provides reviews of mental health apps.
Apply the CRAAP test to the One Mind PsyberGuide website. Be sure to address each bullet point under Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose.
In one paragraph, state whether you would recommend this website to friend who was interested in using a mental health app? Explain why or why not.
Now, download one of the free apps reviewed by the site to your phone. (If you don’t have a phone, please contact your instructor for an alternative to this section of this assignment.) Apply the CRAAP test to the app. Again, be sure to address each bullet point under Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. Does your evaluation of the app match the review provided by the PsyberGuide? Explain.
In one paragraph, state whether you would recommend this mental health app to a friend? Explain why or why not.
Source: macmillan psych community
