Paper Type
ERF
Abstract
Brazilian immigrants increasingly choose online therapy with Brazilian therapists over locally available in-person mental health services in their host countries, despite higher costs and time-zone constraints. This emerging behavior challenges classical technology adoption models such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which assume culturally neutral evaluations of usefulness and ease of use. Drawing on TAM, Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory, and Cultural Congruence Theory, we propose a culturally extended adoption framework that treats TAM as the instrumental facet and Cultural Congruence Theory as the relational facet of digital mental health adoption. We outline a qualitative, interpretive study based on semi-structured interviews with Brazilian nationals living abroad. The study advances three theoretical propositions concerning culturally constituted usefulness, cultural trust, and immigrant technology adoption.
Paper Number
1871
Recommended Citation
Souza, Cris, "Therapy Across Borders: The Search for Cultural Safety in Digital Mental Health" (2026). AMCIS 2026 Proceedings. 7.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2026/ccris/sig_ccris/7
Therapy Across Borders: The Search for Cultural Safety in Digital Mental Health
Brazilian immigrants increasingly choose online therapy with Brazilian therapists over locally available in-person mental health services in their host countries, despite higher costs and time-zone constraints. This emerging behavior challenges classical technology adoption models such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which assume culturally neutral evaluations of usefulness and ease of use. Drawing on TAM, Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory, and Cultural Congruence Theory, we propose a culturally extended adoption framework that treats TAM as the instrumental facet and Cultural Congruence Theory as the relational facet of digital mental health adoption. We outline a qualitative, interpretive study based on semi-structured interviews with Brazilian nationals living abroad. The study advances three theoretical propositions concerning culturally constituted usefulness, cultural trust, and immigrant technology adoption.
Comments
SIG CCRIS