Blended Therapies and Mobile Phones for Improving the Health of Female Victims of Gender Violence

Abstract

We carried out a case study with a group of female victims of gender violence (n = 39) with the objective of evaluating a blended psychotherapeutic intervention. The results show that blended therapies with mobile text messages combined with face-to-face group therapies significantly improved the health of these women. Mood states and the symptoms of depression were measured with a PHQ-9 personal health questionnaire and evolved positively. In the group of women (n = 39) the scores improved from an initial 13.5 (SD = 7.2, range 3-34) to 6.0 at the end of the period of messages (SD = 5.2, range 0-18), which was a significant difference (t (39) = 2.02; p = 0.000). Most of the women stated that the messages had helped them improve their mood (91.6%) and their general health (83.3%), which made them feel more connected to their social environment (80.6%). We observed that adherence to medication for each woman improved. With mixed therapies and mobile phones, social service professionals can incorporate technology into daily practices and offer personalized attention and daily counseling to victims of gender-based violence.

Keywords: blended therapy; gender-based violence; medication adherence; mobile phones; mood; psychosocial health.

Figure 1

Data representation of the initial, middle, and final PHQ-9 (n = 39).

Figure 2

Data representation of the initial, middle, and final mood (n = 39).