e-Health Programming Preferences for Parents of Children Diagnosed with Neurodevelopmental Disorders and/or Mental Illnesses

Background: This study aimed to describe preferences for e-health services among parents/caregivers of young children diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) and/or mental illnesses (MI).Methods: Parents/caregivers of children ages 0-5 completed an anonymous survey via the crowdsourcing platform, AskingCanadians. The survey asked participants about their preferences in e-health services for supporting their children. Results: Out of 606 surveyed parents/caregivers, 26.4% had a child diagnosed with a NDD or MI, self-reported by the parents/caregivers. There were many differences in preferences for e-health services between parents of children with one NDD/MI diagnosis, multiple NDDs/MIs, and no diagnoses. Parents of children with multiple NDDs/MIs preferred a mix of peer- and expert-driven programs and more structured and asynchronous program formats compared to the other groups, who preferred simply expert-driven programs.Conclusions: Tailoring e-health programs based on parents of children with NDDs’/MIs’ preferences could enhance e-health program effectiveness, reduce dropout rates, and improve program development.