Paper Number
ECIS2026-2528
Paper Type
CRP
Abstract
Germany’s prescription-based digital therapeutics (DiGA) promise to extend mental healthcare beyond the clinic. However, their impact is shaped by the user affordances and the barriers they encounter in everyday practice. We conducted 21 qualitative interviews with healthcare professionals to examine how DiGA are perceived and used in mental healthcare. Using the affordance-actualization lens, we identify nine affordances and factors influencing their actualization across patients and healthcare professionals. Additionally, we show the interaction of the involved actors from initiation to treatment. We show that DiGA act as a bridge for continuing care between visits and during therapy waiting times rather than a replacement for psychotherapy and propose an extension of the interactive affordance concept of Hur et al. (2025) to multi-actor networks. Our findings contribute to research on digital therapeutics and affordance theory by revealing affordances of DiGA, enablers and barriers to their actualization, and the outcomes of their actualization.
Recommended Citation
Schumergruber, Maximilian; Kittelmann, Luca; Reindl-Spanner, Philipp; Prommegger, Barbara; Gensichen, Jochen; and Krcmar, Helmut, "Investigating The Potential Of Prescription-Based Digital Therapeutics For Mental Healthcare: An Affordance-Actualization Perspective" (2026). ECIS 2026 Proceedings. 18.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2026/hit/hit/18
Investigating The Potential Of Prescription-Based Digital Therapeutics For Mental Healthcare: An Affordance-Actualization Perspective
Germany’s prescription-based digital therapeutics (DiGA) promise to extend mental healthcare beyond the clinic. However, their impact is shaped by the user affordances and the barriers they encounter in everyday practice. We conducted 21 qualitative interviews with healthcare professionals to examine how DiGA are perceived and used in mental healthcare. Using the affordance-actualization lens, we identify nine affordances and factors influencing their actualization across patients and healthcare professionals. Additionally, we show the interaction of the involved actors from initiation to treatment. We show that DiGA act as a bridge for continuing care between visits and during therapy waiting times rather than a replacement for psychotherapy and propose an extension of the interactive affordance concept of Hur et al. (2025) to multi-actor networks. Our findings contribute to research on digital therapeutics and affordance theory by revealing affordances of DiGA, enablers and barriers to their actualization, and the outcomes of their actualization.
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