Up to 86% of people seek health and mental health information online.1 This shows how hungry people are for accurate guidance, resources and support they can trust. Yet, much of the content available online is misleading or even harmful.2
Fortunately, eLearning hubs can help. These digital platforms provide educational resources, courses and content that support people to build skills and find relevant, credible tools, often while learning at their own pace.
Some of the leading eLearning providers for health and mental health attract over a million web visitors a month.3 Much of their success comes from their engaging, evidence-based and ethical content – but creating this isn’t easy. So, how can your hub achieve it?
To answer your questions, this page will cover:
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, e-learning is “learning done by studying at home using computers and courses provided on the internet.”4 So, eLearning for health and mental health refers to the use of digital resources to learn about how to keep ourselves healthy, both mentally and physically.
There are many forms of eLearning. The main types are:
How you create your eLearning hub resources and how you make them engaging and credible will depend on the form of eLearning you choose or currently use. However, most mental health and healthcare eLearning providers use asynchronous online learning through courses, printable worksheets and informative blogs and web pages.
But what are the main eLearning platforms for mental health?
Some of the most popular e-Learning providers for mental health, who are receiving hundreds of thousands of visitors per month, are:
It’s one thing to quickly knock up some surface-level resources, but creating eLearning tools that are engaging, helpful and credible is another thing. Here’s how you can create quality tools for your mental health eLearning hub:
In recent years, there has been a surge in surface-level (and often inaccurate) AI-written content filling the internet. As an online resource for mental health, you have the opportunity to stand apart from this and create helpful, in-depth resources that are backed by the latest research.
Evidence-based therapy practices are linked with a higher quality of care and better patient outcomes.6 The same can be said for evidence-based resources on e learning for health and social care platforms. Resources that are backed by the latest research not only help the authority of your organisation, but they are also more ethical and produce better outcomes.
What we say to others matters, and this is especially true in the health and wellness space. Sensitive, ethical language means using language that is respectful, inclusive, and avoids discrimination or bias.
Research shows that language that’s biased or excludes others can reduce a person’s sense of safety. In contrast, sensitive language can increase trust, reduce stigma and actually encourage someone to seek therapeutic support.7,8 So, any resources created for eLearning for mental health and health need to use ethical, sensitive and inclusive language.
Creating evidence-based resources that use the correct language can be difficult and time-consuming. As such, it can help to draft in the support of eLearning content specialists, especially those who also have a mental health or clinical background.
Content specialists for eLearning can include licensed clinicians, psychologists, counsellors or learning designers and skilled writers who understand both mental health and how people learn online. Bringing in this level of expertise saves you time and elevates your platform – more on this next.
Creating effective and ethically-driven mental health eLearning resources can be time-consuming and complex. So, it can be helpful to hire outside help – an eLearning content writer, for instance. But what are the main benefits of this?
The average adult’s reading level in the UK is 9-11 years old.9 eLearning content writers know how to break down complex psychological research and concepts into easily-digestible language that your readers will understand and relate to. They also understand how people learn online, so they can structure content in a way that’s interactive and engaging.
Specialist mental health eLearning content writers also know how to research and verify information. They’ve learnt the trustworthy sources and signs of a strong research paper, helping ensure any materials you create are evidence-based, accurate and up-to-date. As we discussed earlier, this is vital as a resource hub for mental health, as unsafe content can be damaging for readers.
If a mental health content writer also has a mental health background (as is the case for all PsychWrite s writers), they’ll also know how to speak to your audience. For example, using sensitive, ethical and inclusive language. Knowing exactly how to speak about mental health conditions, for instance, will be vital in ensuring your eLearners feel supported, seen and respected.
Finally, well-written content will lead to more sales and happy customers. According to Sweller et al.’s Cognitive Load Theory, learning materials that are unorganised or confusing can make it more difficult to learn and understand the materials.10
This makes hiring an expert even more important. Not only will well-written content make people more likely to complete your content, but they’re also more likely to enjoy it, too. This could mean for your eLearning platform: positive feedback and referrals, as well as more sales and people helped.
Thousands of people want to learn about their mental health online, which means there’s a prime opportunity for eLearning platforms to help a lot of people. Yet, it can be difficult producing content that is evidence-based, ethically written and engaging. Poorly written materials or resources that are difficult to understand can damage your reputation and leave your customers unsatisfied and resources incomplete.
PsychWrite can help. All of our writers are trained clinicians and mental health specialists. They’re experts at taking complex psychological concepts from research and turning these into sensitive, inclusive and easy-to-understand content. Every resource we create, whether that’s a guide, workbook, online course or webinar script, is based on the latest research.
We’re trusted by Positivepsychology.com, a website which receives over 1 million website visits a month. So, whether you want to upgrade your existing materials or start your resources from scratch, we can help you to:
Get in contact today, because we’re ready to support you.
