Mental health clinicians’ information-seeking and use of Wikimedia platforms
Authors: Young Sophia , Youngstrom Eric A. , Meter Anna Van , Young Andrea S. , Turner-Quest Martha A. , Brady Megan , Becker-Haimes Emily M. 
Published: September 2024

Internet sites are increasingly being used to disseminate clinical resources to mental health clinicians. Wikimedia platforms (e.g., Wikipedia and Wikiversity) are open-source, freely available resources that are among the most visited websites and could be an effective way to disseminate mental health information. An important first step in learning how to optimize the impact of such dissemination efforts is to understand how and for what reasons practicing clinicians already engage with these resources. Using a convenience sample of 120 practicing mental health clinicians (82.5% female, 85.6% white,Mage = 41.31), we assessed clinician- reported practices about where and how they seek information about psychological science on the internet. Our results showed that freely available resources related to mental health are not a primary source of information for mental health clinicians and that clinicians have low confidence in the veracity of information available through Wikipedia and Wikiversity. Clinicians shared strategies (e.g., implementing verification steps on Wiki platform pages) that could increase clinician confidence in the information provided and their likelihood of using these sites as resources. Overall, this study indicates that mental health clinicians are not regularly using Wiki sites for mental health-related questions, even though they are accessible, regularly updated, and increasingly reliable. Findings suggest that implementing verification steps on Wiki pages could increase clinicians’ confidence in the information provided and their likelihood in using these sites as resources, however, it remains unclear whether verification steps would lead to more frequent use or how such a system would be implemented through existing platforms. Results will help guide future dissemination efforts to increase the availability and utilization of evidence-based psychological science online for clinicians.

Author Summary

Over the past few decades, we have seen a boom in psychological research and innovation. However, the results of this work exist primarily behind academic firewalls, making it difficult for clinicians to access information describing advancements in their field. As clinicians are best positioned to immediately address the global mental health crisis, their inability to make use of the most up-to-date research has a significant, negative impact on the quality of available mental healthcare. Wikipedia and Wikiversity present a possible solution: they are among the most utilized information sites in the world and could be a great tool for providing mental health clinicians with evidence-based psychological resources. In this study, we surveyed clinicians about their online information-seeking habits and found that Wiki platforms are not a main source of information for clinicians, who reported low confidence in the quality of information on these sites. However, survey results also indicated that implementing verification steps on Wiki pages could increase clinicians’ confidence and willingness to use them. Our results provide guidance on how evidence-based psychological science can be made available on the internet in a way that will increase its utilization and best support clinicians.