Arabic Mental Health Apps: A Narrative Review of Therapeutic and Engagement Features (Poster)

Mental health disorders constitute a significant global health burden, with stigma creatingadditional barriers to care in the Middle East. Mobile health technologies present potentialsolutions, yet their implementation in Arab countries remains largely unexplored. This narrativereview examines the current landscape of Arabic mental health mobile applications as anemerging solution to these barriers. Through a comprehensive analysis of literature, we evaluatethe therapeutic and engagement features of existing Arabic mental health apps, comparing themwith well-documented Western platforms. While these apps show potential for improvinghealthcare accessibility and reducing stigma, they lack essential features for effective mentalhealth support. Our findings revealed minimal implementation of engagement features,particularly in visualization, gamification, and social networking capabilities. Similarly,therapeutic features showed limited customization options and insufficient integration ofevidence-based interventions. This review concludes that future development of Arabic mentalhealth apps requires collaborative efforts between healthcare professionals, policymakers, anddevelopers to create culturally sensitive, evidence-based digital solutions that effectively serveArab populations.