Julie Prescott

At the start of 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic. Pregnant women were deemed a vulnerable group globally and advised to shield. Due to social distancing and the changes in maternity services, it was a reasonable assumption that pregnant women would turn to the online platform for advice and guidance. Using reflexive thematic analysis, this chapter explored the effect of social media, support groups, and app usage on pregnant women during the outbreak. Results evidenced that pregnant women utilised social media, support groups, and apps for information and support. Positive aspects were maintaining social connections whilst adhering to social distancing guidelines, access to support groups and people in similar situations, and ease of access to information. Negative aspects were excessive amounts of and overwhelming information, misinformation, judgement from others, and increased anxiety. Apps were deemed positive for general pregnancy but lacked COVID-19-related information.

Chatbots are programmed conversational agents that emulate communication systematically using natural language processing. They can be programmed to assume a range of roles where regular human interaction occurs. Within mental health services, they are not as well represented as in other areas of healthcare, with research suggesting that uptake has been hindered by concerns over the accuracy of the information they provide, undeveloped technology, lack of adherence to an ethical framework, and the unconvincing portrayal of human authenticity. Technological improvements have addressed some of these concerns, and as the resultant solution choice increases, the potential for chatbots within mental health is receiving greater attention. In this chapter, two novel uses for chatbots are showcased. Foxbot, a recovery friend, accessible at the point of need to help mitigate some of the common risk factors to sustaining addiction recovery; and ERIC, a counselling client who allows trainee counsellors to practise their counselling skills without having to enlist an actual client.

The development of the Skilful surfing Online For Anxiety Reduction (SO-FAR) in pregnancy (SO-FAR) mental health (mHealth) application (app) was supported by previous research which modelled the theory of Skilful Surfing. The model informed the app development, with each facet of the model corresponding to a different intervention included in the app. The aim of this chapter was to report the development of an mHealth app to relieve pregnancy-specific health anxiety. App content inclusion was based on previous literature and recommendations for mHealth app inclusions. Overall, the chapter provides the reader with a comprehensive account of the development of the SO-FAR app which may reduce levels of pregnancy-specific HA by encouraging women to become more adept when navigating through online health information, self-aware, and educated and promoting the ability to identify triggers and understand when and why they are experiencing maladaptive cognition and rumination in a self-guided manner.

Anxiety disorders (AD) are the most prevalent of the mental health conditions and are associated with significant and long-lasting burden of disease both for affected individuals and healthcare systems designed to support them. Despite this, barriers to traditional interventions mean less than half of adolescents experiencing ADs seek-treatment, with less than 20% of treatment-seekers ultimately receiving a scientifically validated intervention. Therapeutic games show significant potential to help reduce AD in adolescents, with some concerns remaining over their abilities to engage users, particularly over time. The chapter presents two studies relating to the development of a new mobile gamified intervention for adolescents with AD. This includes a user-feedback study on currently available games for anxiety and depression, followed by a user-feedback, acceptability, and intention-to-use study of a development version of the new intervention.

The chapter uses Weinreich's (2003) Identity Structure Analysis (ISA) to explicate the nature of the teacher identity in crisis. It explores how through a combination approach, ISA and mentoring can help develop and enhance professional identity by providing insights into issues, conflicts and concerns that trainee teachers can work through with the help of a mentor. The chapter builds on previous work that considered how the combined approach can help trainee teachers develop their professional identity during their training. In its consideration of a combined ISA and mentoring approach to identity crisis, the chapter also explores the psychology of stress and how knowledge of professional identity can be applied to mediate the negative effects of high stress in the workplace. This is also discussed in terms of professional development programmes and mentoring schemes which aim to increase the retention of qualified teachers, currently experiencing a crisis within the United Kingdom, suggesting that the use of ISA can provide more structure and impact.

This chapter considers how technology can enhance teaching and learning through technology within the higher education setting. The chapter considers findings and draws conclusions from a recent project conducted by the authors involved in this technologically innovative project. In particular this chapter aims to consider how mobile apps can be beneficial for learning and education purposes, consider the pedagogic value of technology use within higher education (HE), look at how students can be co-creators in their own learning, and provide an overview of the mobile app and the research findings that it was developed from. The chapter will also take into consideration the challenges associated with developing and implementing a technological intervention in HE.