scholarly journals Tomorrow's world: current developments in the therapeutic use of technology for psychosis

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 301-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Puffn O'Hanlon ◽  
Golnar Aref-Adib ◽  
Andres Fonseca ◽  
Brynmor Lloyd-Evans ◽  
David Osborn ◽  
...  

SummaryThere is now an established evidence base for the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to support mental healthcare (‘e-mental health’) for common mental health problems. Recently, there have been significant developments in the therapeutic use of computers, mobile phones, gaming and virtual reality technologies for the assessment and treatment of psychosis. We provide an overview of the therapeutic use of ICT for psychosis, drawing on searches of the scientific literature and the internet and using interviews with experts in the field. We outline interventions that are already relevant to clinical practice, some that may become available in the foreseeable future and emerging challenges for their implementation.

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgitta Wickberg ◽  
Marie Bendix ◽  
Margareta Blomdahl Wetterholm ◽  
Alkistis Skalkidou

Sweden has a unique opportunity to identify and follow up women presenting with, or at risk for, perinatal mental health problems and disorders because universal screening programmes are provided by its primary healthcare system. Although they are implemented across almost the entire population, screening programmes are not necessarily leading to effective interventions because the multidisciplinary perinatal mental healthcare teams that provide for the assessment and treatment of moderate to severe disorders are very few in number and must be increased. In particular, efforts to reach immigrant parents must be intensified to achieve equal quality of care for all.


2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Lovell ◽  
David Richards

Mental health problems contribute 23% to the global burden of disease in developed countries (WHO, 1999). In the U.K., recent legislation attempts to address this by modernizing mental health services so that they provide evidence based, accessible and non-discriminatory services for both serious and common mental health problems. Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) has a robust evidence base that fits very well with the thrust of policy. However, CBT's delivery systems are rooted in traditional service models, which pay little attention to the growing evidence base for brief and single-strand treatments over complex or multi-strand interventions. Services characterized by 9-5 working, hourly appointments and face-to-face therapy disenfranchise the majority of people who would benefit from CBT. In this paper we argue that the evidence exists for service protocols that promote equity, accessibility and choice and that CBT services should be organized around multiple levels of entry and service delivery rather than the more usual secondary care referral systems.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S35-S35
Author(s):  
M. Schouler-Ocak

With growing globalisation and an increasing number of people on the move across boundaries, it has become vital that service providers, policy makers and mental health professionals are aware of the different needs of the patients they are responsible. One of the most fundamental barriers for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in accessing health services are inadequate legal entitlement and, mechanisms for ensuring that they are well known and respected in practice. Access to the healthcare system is impeded by language and cultural communication problems. Qualified language and cultural mediators are not widely available, and moreover, are not regularly asked to attend. This can lead to misunderstandings, misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment, with serious consequences for the afflicted. The language barrier represents one of the main barriers to access to the healthcare system for people who do not speak the local language; indeed, language is the main working tool of psychiatry and psychotherapy, without which successful communication is impossible. Additionally, the lack of health literacy among the staff of institutions, which provide care for refugees and asylum seekers means that there is a lack of knowledge about the main symptoms of common mental health problems among these groups. The healthcare services, which are currently available, are not well prepared for these increasing specific groups. In dealing with ethnic minorities, including asylum seekers and refugees, mental healthcare professionals need to be culturally competent.In this talk, main models for providing mental health care for migrants and refugees will be presented and discussed.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janne Lund ◽  
Anders J.W. Andersen ◽  
Siri H. Haugland

Aim: Socioeconomic inequality is found to negatively influence mental health, but studies investigating the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and specific common mental health problems such as stress and depressive symptoms in the general adolescent population are needed. Moreover, gender gaps in mental health among adolescents are evident, but there is a lack of studies that investigate socioeconomic differences in mental health within genders. As girls report consistently more depressive symptoms than do boys, this systematic review specifically investigates whether socioeconomic status is associated with stress and depressive symptoms among adolescent girls in the general population.Methods: Eligible studies according to predefined inclusion criteria were identified from Medline, PsycINFO, ISI Web of Science, Svemed+ and Idunn. Eight studies were identified, whereby only two measured stress; hence, the evidence base for stress was too limited to perform an analysis. A narrative synthesis was conducted of the six studies that measured depressive symptoms.Results: A significant inverse social gradient in depressive symptoms among adolescent girls was revealed in all studies that applied parental employment status and perceived financial difficulties as SES measures, while parental educational level and Family Affluence Scale (FAS) gave inconsistent results. The relatively low number of studies may limit interpretation.Conclusions: Depressive symptoms were more common among adolescent girls with low SES compared to girls with higher SES. SES measures should be applied with care in studies of populations of adolescent girls, as the results can vary based on the chosen indicator. Actions to reduce depressive symptoms among adolescent girls in the general population should include targeting socioeconomic inequalities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 345-357
Author(s):  
Brittany L. Mitchell ◽  
Katherine M. Kirk ◽  
Kerrie McAloney ◽  
Margaret J. Wright ◽  
Tracey A. Davenport ◽  
...  

AbstractThe ‘16Up’ study conducted at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute from January 2014 to December 2018 aimed to examine the physical and mental health of young Australian twins aged 16−18 years (N = 876; 371 twin pairs and 18 triplet sets). Measurements included online questionnaires covering physical and mental health as well as information and communication technology (ICT) use, actigraphy, sleep diaries and hair samples to determine cortisol concentrations. Study participants generally rated themselves as being in good physical (79%) and mental (73%) health and reported lower rates of psychological distress and exposure to alcohol, tobacco products or other substances than previously reported for this age group in the Australian population. Daily or near-daily online activity was almost universal among study participants, with no differences noted between males and females in terms of frequency or duration of internet access. Patterns of ICT use in this sample indicated that the respondents were more likely to use online information sources for researching physical health issues than for mental health or substance use issues, and that they generally reported partial levels of satisfaction with the mental health information they found online. This suggests that internet-based mental health resources can be readily accessed by adolescent Australians, and their computer literacy augurs well for future access to online health resources. In combination with other data collected as part of the ongoing Brisbane Longitudinal Twin Study, the 16Up project provides a valuable resource for the longitudinal investigation of genetic and environmental contributions to phenotypic variation in a variety of human traits.


Author(s):  
Matteo Catanzano ◽  
Sophie D Bennett ◽  
Marc S Tibber ◽  
Anna E Coughtrey ◽  
Holan Liang ◽  
...  

Aim: This study was part of a broader project to examine the acceptability, feasibility and impact of a transdiagnostic mental health drop-in centre offering brief psychological assessment and treatment for children and young people and/or their families with mental health needs in the context of long-term physical health conditions (LTCs). The aims of this investigation were to characterise: (i) the use of such a centre, (ii) the demographics and symptoms of those presenting to the centre, and (iii) the types of support that are requested and/or indicated. Methods: A mental health “booth” was located in reception of a national paediatric hospital over one year. Characteristics of young people with LTCs and their siblings/parents attending the booth were defined. Emotional/behavioural symptoms were measured using standardised questionnaires including the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Participants subsequently received one of four categories of intervention: brief transdiagnostic cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), referral to other services, neurodevelopmental assessment or signposting to resources. Results: One hundred and twenty-eight participants were recruited. The mean age of young people was 9.14 years (standard deviation: 4.28); 61% identified as white and 45% were male. Over half of young people recruited scored in the clinical range with respect to the SDQ. Presenting problems included: anxiety (49%), challenging behaviour (35%), low mood (22%) and other (15%). Conclusions: A considerable proportion of young people with LTC in a paediatric hospital scored in the clinical range for common mental health problems, indicating a potential for psychological interventions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-21
Author(s):  
P Sharma ◽  
P Sharma ◽  
N Thakur ◽  
S Sharma ◽  
M Pokharel

Introduction: School mental health is one of the important areas where early detection can lead to appropriate early intervention and burden of disease can be minimized. There is dearth of prevalence studies of common mental disorders on school going adolescents in Nepal. Considering this we aimed to study the prevalence of common mental health problems and substance use in school going adolescents. Material And Method: We evaluated 240 students for common mental disorders (depression and anxiety) using translated version of PHQ-4 and substance use single validated question after taking consent from school authorities and assent from students. Results: It was seen that 68.8 % students had psychological distress. 22.9 % and 27.5% of students had anxiety and depression respectively on screener and 23.3% students had use of substance at least once within a year. When compared male had significantly higher number of substance use as compared to female but no difference in PHQ-4 scores were seen when compared between gender and history of substance use. Conclusion: The study shows the current scenario of school going adolescents in Nepal and highlights the need of prevalence data on more generalizable setting.


1989 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 325-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce R. Deforge ◽  
Jeffery Sobal

Depression is one of the most common mental health problems in the elderly, but there is little consensus about the best way to assess depression in the aged. The relationship between the CES-D and the ZUNG self-report depression scales was investigated in seventy-eight elderly people with osteoarthritis (mean age 71). The correlation between the scales was r = .69, with the CES-D classifying 15 percent of the participants as depressed, as compared to 6 percent by the ZUNG. Psychological symptoms had the strongest relationship with overall depression scores on both scales. No sex differences were found on psychological items on either scale, but females reported more somatic symptoms on the ZUNG. People over age seventy-four reported more psychological symptoms than their younger counterparts.


2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-102
Author(s):  
Sri Listyarini ◽  
Dewi Juliah Ratnaningsih ◽  
Ernik Yuliana

The use of technology in UT instructional media allows students of the Open University of Indonesia (Universitas Terbuka, UT) to improve their knowledge and skills without being hampered by distance, space, and time. This study explored the perception of UT alumni and stakeholders about the benefit of using information and communication technology (ICT) and learning media obtained during their study period in UT. The information was gathered from a tracer study conducted in 2008, which was used to evaluate 5 study programs at the Faculty of Teacher Training and Educational Science in the use of ICT and instructional media. The data were collected from 37 UT regional offices through questionnaires to a sample of alumni teachers and their principals, as well as interviews with selected alumni and stakeholders. According to the surveys and interviews, both alumni and stakeholders perceived that alumni had improved in their knowledge and skills of ICT and learning media. However, according to alumni perceptions, the knowledge and skills they had learned from UT were relatively low. On the other hand, stakeholders perceived that the alumni had good knowledge and skills of ICT and learning media. We argue that differences in perception between alumni and stakeholders result from different experiences and expectations on the part of each group.


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