Bridging the gap of healthcare underutilization: The appeal of a digital wellness platform among college men at two U.S. schools

AI Summary

Survey of 398 undergraduate men at two US universities examined mental health service utilisation and unmet need related to digital platform sign-up.
Men who activated the MANUAL platform were more likely to report avoiding treatment due to embarrassment than non-activators.
Digital wellness platforms tailored for young men may bridge the gap between underutilisation of in-person services and needed resources.

J Am Coll Health. 2026 Jun 24:1-9. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2026.2690497. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Objective: Examine mental health service utilization among college men and explore reasons for unmet need between men that do and do not sign up for a university-sponsored digital wellness platform. Participants: Undergraduate men (N = 398) at two schools completed an online survey in Fall 2022. Concurrently, male-identifying students were invited to join MANUAL, a digital wellness platform offering gender-specific resources. Methods: Two-sample tests of proportions estimate group differences in reasons for avoiding mental health treatment and supplemental logistic regressions predict each reason by account activation and respondent characteristics. Results: Men that signed up for MANUAL more often avoided treatment because of embarrassment than those who did not activate their account. Conclusions: Because of their appeal over traditional in-person services, online platforms designed for and by young men may be able to bridge the gap between college men’s underutilization of mental health services and the resources they need.

PMID:42341231 | DOI:10.1080/07448481.2026.2690497

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