Towards Achieving Mental Health Equity for the Underserved Population: Evaluating the Potential of Mobile Apps

Abstract

The underserved population—i.e., individuals who identify themselves as non-female, non-heterosexual, or non-White—have long faced inequities when accessing traditional clinic-based mental health services. Individuals from the underserved population tend to use and benefit from these services less than their better-served counterparts (i.e., those who identify themselves as female, heterosexual, and White). This study investigates whether similar inequities exist within the context of mobile apps specifically designed to provide self-support and peer-support. To this end, we conduct an empirical analysis using longitudinal user-level data collected from a mental health mobile app (MHMA). Our results indicate that: (i) in contrast to the traditional clinic-based mental health services, in a MHMA setting, users from the underserved population engage with the app services and derive similar benefits as much as their better-served counterparts; and (ii) there is a positive relationship between app usage frequency and the mental condition of app users. Our post-hoc analysis uncovers that the MHMA promotes equitable usage and benefit for users: (i) from the underserved population via self-management functions that enable self-support; and (ii) from the better-served population via online community functions that facilitate peer-support. These findings suggest that MHMAs have the potential to achieve equity through both user engagement and the benefits derived from such engagement. We conclude by discussing the implications for mobile app firms, policymakers, and organizations in their efforts to achieve mental health equity for the underserved population.