Published in the NursingReview Online
10 July 2012
Australian National University researchers say online interventions can have important flow on effects to a patient’s quality of life and physical health.

Online depression therapy programs can have a positive impact on more than just depressive symptoms, according to a new study.

Dr Lou Farrer, from the ANU Centre for Mental Health Research, trialled the effectiveness of online programs MoodGYM and BluePages with users of Lifeline’s telephone crisis line.

She found that the online programs had a positive influence across a range of problems, such as alcohol use.

“In addition to reducing depression symptoms, we found that the online programs were effective in reducing hazardous alcohol use in Lifeline callers. There was a significant drop in alcohol use among those who used MoodGYM and BluePages,” she said.

“The results also showed that people who used the online programs had a marked increase in their quality of life, as measured by a scale that assessed satisfaction with different areas of daily living.”

The research was recently published online in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
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