scholarly journals Cultural adaptation: a framework for addressing an often-overlooked dimension of digital health accessibility

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayson S. Marwaha ◽  
Joseph C. Kvedar
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Cultural Adaptation ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Communication Styles ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
Area Of Study

AbstractRelatively little is known about how to make digital health tools accessible to different populations from a cultural standpoint. Alignment with cultural values and communication styles may affect these tools’ ability to diagnose and treat various conditions. In this Editorial, we highlight the findings of recent work to make digital tools for mental health more culturally accessible, and propose ways to advance this area of study.

scholarly journals Smartphone Health Assessment for Relapse Prevention (SHARP): a digital solution toward global mental health

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Rodriguez-Villa ◽  
Urvakhsh Meherwan Mehta ◽  
John Naslund ◽  
Deepak Tugnawat ◽  
Snehil Gupta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Serious Mental Illness ◽  
Relapse Prevention ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Two Phase

Background Predicting and preventing relapse presents a crucial opportunity and first step to improve outcomes and reduce the care gap for persons living with schizophrenia. Using commercially available smartphones and smartwatches, technology now affords opportunities to capture real-time and longitudinal profiles of patients’ symptoms, cognition, physiology and social patterns. This novel data makes it possible to explore relationships between behaviours, physiology and symptoms, which may yield personalised relapse signals. Aims Smartphone Health Assessment for Relapse Prevention (SHARP), an international mental health research study supported by the Wellcome Trust, will inform the development of a scalable and sharable digital health solution to monitor personal risk of relapse. The resulting technology will be studied toward predicting and preventing relapse among individuals diagnosed with serious mental illness. Method SHARP is a two-phase study with research sites in Boston, Massachusetts, and Bangalore and Bhopal, India. During phase 1, focus groups will be conducted at each study site to collect feedback on the design and features available on mindLAMP, a digital health platform. Individuals with serious mental illness will use mindLAMP for the duration of a year during phase 2. Results The results of the research outlined in this protocol will guide the development of technology and digital tools to help address pervasive challenges in global mental health. Conclusions The digital tools developed as a result of this study, and participants’ experiences using them, may offer insight into opportunities to expand digital mental health resources and optimize their utilisation around the world.

scholarly journals Building the digital mental health ecosystem: opportunities and challenges for innovators (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedetta Spadaro ◽  
Nayra Anna Martin-Key ◽  
Sabine Bahn
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Care Pathway ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Digital Ecosystem ◽  
Regulatory Flexibility

UNSTRUCTURED Digital mental health holds promise in tackling the growing demand for psychotherapeutic services. However, existing digital approaches are rarely integrated in clinical practice and rely on patients’ ability to self-diagnose and seek support. Digital health innovators are presented with opportunities and challenges to create an integrated digital ecosystem for mental healthcare. The uptake of digital tools depends on efficacy and engagement of end-users. To this aim, behavior theories offer the opportunity to identify behavioral drivers and address barriers to uptake. The agenda for innovators also includes building strong evidence-based cases for digital mental health, moving away from a one-size-fits-all wellbeing approach, to embrace the development of comprehensive digital diagnostics and validated digital tools. Innovators have the opportunity to make their clinical evaluation more insightful by assessing effectiveness and feasibility in the intended context of use with hybrid pragmatic trials. The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted regulatory flexibility and increased implementation of digital mental health, however equitable access remains a challenge, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and the mental health gap is still present and increasing. A joint effort by digital health developers and providers is required to enable individuals to access care through digital technologies in communities where mental health services may be otherwise scarce. Shifting from the practice of designing for to designing with users will enhance traditional healthcare delivery and connect more patients to the appropriate care pathway. By laying these foundations, digital services can become integrated in clinical practice and set the scene for deeper technology-enabled changes.

DIGITAL TOOLS FOR INFORMATION ON MENTAL HEALTH. DOES WHAT WE DO AFFECT THE WAY WE PERCEIVE THEM? A QUANTITATIVE STUDY AMONG THE ADULT POPULATION IN BRAȘOV, ROMANIA

2021 ◽  
Vol 14(63) (1) ◽  
pp. 29-36
Author(s):  
Andra Ioana Maria Tudor ◽  
Gabriel Brătucu
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Marketing Research ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Mental Health Needs ◽  
Quantitative Marketing ◽  
Health Disorders

This paper discusses whether and to what extent the occupational level of the adult population in Brasov County affects the perceptions regarding the digital tools’ importance for information on mental health disorders such as depression and how the population with different occupational levels perceives and assimilates the digital tools for mental health needs. A quantitative marketing research was conducted among 514 adults from Brasov County. The ANOVA test was applied to achieve the set goal. The outcomes are useful for academics and practitioners to design sustainable digital health policies and create efficient prevention campaigns for depression, by focusing on digital tools.

scholarly journals Multiple uses of app instead of using multiple apps – a case for rethinking the digital health technology toolbox

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Torous ◽  
Aditya Vaidyam
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Collaborative Approach ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Advance Care ◽  
Multiple Uses

Abstract There are tens of thousands of mental health-related apps available today – representing extreme duplication in this digital age. Instead of a plethora of apps, there is a need for a few that meet the needs of many. Focusing on transparency and free sharing of software, we argue that a collaborative approach towards apps can advance care through creating customisable and future proofed digital tools that allow all stakeholders to engage in their design and use.

Cultural Values Influence Mental-Health Help-Seeking in Asian and Latinx College Students

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elayne Zhou ◽  
Yena Kyeong ◽  
Cecilia Cheung ◽  
Kalina Michalska;Michalska
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
College Students ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Mental Health Treatment ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Help Seeking Behaviors ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Ethnic Group Membership

The current study examined the influence of cultural values on mental health attitudes and help-seeking behaviors in college students of diverse ethnic backgrounds. Asian and Latinx college students (N = 159) completed an online survey in which they reported their adherence to cultural values and general attitudes towards mental health and help-seeking behavior. Factor analysis revealed two common factors of cultural values irrespective of ethnic background: Interdependent Orientation (IO) and Cultural Obligation (CO). Regardless of ethnicity, the more students endorsed IO values, the less likely they were to perceive a need for mental health treatment. IO value adherence also predicted more negative attitudes towards mental health. CO values were not predictive of perceived need or help-seeking behaviors. Findings highlight the importance of assessing certain cultural values independently from ethnicity and considering how the multidimensionality of culture may help explain shared mental health behaviors across ethnic group membership.

Engagement patterns of users and providers: a study of messaging on app usage in a smartphone app for the treatment of eating disorders (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Kim ◽  
Jisung Park ◽  
Jenna Tregarthen
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Communication Styles ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Digital Tool ◽  
Self Monitoring ◽  
Multiple Phenotypes ◽  
Monitoring Tools ◽  
Level Data

BACKGROUND By offering the ability to immediately communicate with health care providers, digital health apps may significantly bolster the therapeutic relationship. Increasing opportunities of engagement with a digital tool, self-monitoring tools show confer promise in allowing patients to go through periods in between in-clinic visits. Little is known however, regarding the usage of the apps and whether communication between providers and app users in fact encourages usage. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to investigate the users of an app for eating disorders and summarize the characteristics of usage, characteristics of communication (i.e. messages sent and received), and assess whether the degree of communication and the degree of app usage (of the main features of the app precluding provider contact) were related. METHODS Users of an app for eating disorders (Tregarthen et al) consented for their de-identified, aggregate level data to be utilized for research. Records of five hundred users were randomly sampled from May 2017 to July 2017. All users in the sampled cohort were linked to a clinician. Raw data included 97,732 observations of meal logs submitted via app across 500 individuals. RESULTS Our data demonstrated a high degree of variability across users in their engagement patterns of the app. Receiving more messages on average had a greater effect on usage than sending messages, implying that being checked in on by clinicians may encourage users to engage more with their app. Data also demonstrated that there were multiple phenotypes in terms of preferences regarding communication – while a portion of users seemed to benefit, a large minority did not demonstrate a change in usage based on the frequency of communication. CONCLUSIONS Understanding usage phenotypes can be instrumental in helping clinician and apps understand who their user is. This work demonstrates that variability among the user population in terms of usage and communication styles, as well as usage and behavior. This information can ultimately be leveraged for guiding effective treatment delivery.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. xvi-6
Author(s):  
Kate L. Harkness ◽  
Elizabeth P. Hayden
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Integrative Review ◽  
Stress Exposure ◽  
Stress Resilience ◽  
Psychological Models ◽  
Area Of Study

In this introductory chapter, we provide an overview of The Handbook of Stress and Mental Health. We begin by introducing the scope of the issue and critically operationally defining the construct of stress. We then provide a description of the chapters included in the volume, as well as an outline of the purpose of each of the five major sections: Assessment and Definitional Issues, Stress Exposure and Mental Health, Psychological Models, Neurobiological Models, and Stress Resilience and Treatment. The contributors represent international leaders in the field of stress and provide authoritative and integrative review and analysis of the evidence base in this crucial area of study.

scholarly journals Rise in the use of section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in England and Wales: A viewpoint on Loughran (2018)

2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Cresswell
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Causal Analysis ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
The Law

This article provides a critical viewpoint on Loughran’s recent work in Medicine, Science and the Law on the causes of the rise in the police’s use of section 136 (s136) of the Mental Health Act 1983 (Loughran M. Detention under section 136: why is it increasing? Med Sci Law 2018; 58: 268–274). The rate of this rise seems significant: by 2014, it was five times more likely that a person in England would be detained in a hospital under s136 than it was in 2000, and the trend has continued to the present day. This viewpoint considers the significance of the s136 rise from the theoretical perspective of causal analysis.

scholarly journals Implementing a digital health model of care in Australian youth mental health services: protocol for impact evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Piper ◽  
Tracey A. Davenport ◽  
Haley LaMonica ◽  
Antonia Ottavio ◽  
Frank Iorfino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Impact Evaluation ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Model Of Care ◽  
Health Service Provision ◽  
Industrial Grade ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background The World Economic Forum has recently highlighted substantial problems in mental health service provision and called for the rapid deployment of smarter, digitally-enhanced health services as a means to facilitate effective care coordination and address issues of demand. In mental health, the biggest enabler of digital solutions is the implementation of an effective model of care that is facilitated by integrated health information technologies (HITs); the latter ensuring the solution is easily accessible, scalable and sustainable. The University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre (BMC) has developed an innovative digital health solution – delivered through the Youth Mental Health and Technology Program – which incorporates two components: 1) a highly personalised and measurement-based (data-driven) model of youth mental health care; and 2) an industrial grade HIT registered on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods. This paper describes a research protocol to evaluate the impact of implementing the BMC’s digital health solution into youth mental health services (i.e. headspace - a highly accessible, youth-friendly integrated service that responds to the mental health, physical health, alcohol or other substance use, and vocational concerns of young people aged 12 to 25 years) within urban and regional areas of Australia. Methods The digital health solution will be implemented into participating headspace centres using a naturalistic research design. Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected from headspace health professionals, service managers and administrators, as well as from lead agency and local Primary Health Network (PHN) staff, via service audits, Implementation Officer logs, online surveys, and semi-structured interviews, at baseline and then three-monthly intervals over the course of 12 months. Discussion At the time of publication, six headspace centres had been recruited to this study and had commenced implementation and impact evaluation. The first results are expected to be submitted for publication in 2021. This study will focus on the impact of implementing a digital health solution at both a service and staff level, and will evaluate digital readiness of service and staff adoption; quality, usability and acceptability of the solution by staff; staff self-reported clinical competency; overall impact on headspace centres as well as their lead agencies and local PHNs; and social return on investment.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document