Issues for eHealth in Psychiatry: Results of an Expert Survey

Abstract

BackgroundTechnology has changed the landscape in which psychiatry operates. Effective, evidence-based treatments for mental health care are now available at the fingertips of anyone with Internet access. However, technological solutions for mental health are not necessarily sought by consumers nor recommended by clinicians.ObjectiveThe objectives of this study are to identify and discuss the barriers to introducing eHealth technology-supported interventions within mental health.MethodsAn interactive polling tool was used to ask “In this brave new world, what are the key issues that need to be addressed to improve mental health (using technology)?” Respondents were the multidisciplinary attendees of the “Humans and Machines: A Quest for Better Mental Health” conference, held in Sydney, Australia, in 2016. Responses were categorized into 10 key issues using team-based qualitative analysis.ResultsA total of 155 responses to the question were received from 66 audience members. Responses were categorized into 10 issues and ordered by importance: access to care, integration and collaboration, education and awareness, mental health stigma, data privacy, trust, understanding and assessment of mental health, government and policy, optimal design, and engagement. In this paper, each of the 10 issues are outlined, and potential solutions are discussed. Many of the issues were interrelated, having implications for other key areas identified.ConclusionsAs many of the issues identified directly related to barriers to care, priority should be given to addressing these issues that are common across mental health delivery. Despite new challenges raised by technology, technology-supported mental health interventions represent a tremendous opportunity to address in a timely way these major concerns and improve the receipt of effective, evidence-based therapy by those in need.

Telehealth: Synopsis

“…However, telehealth has been deployed and established in other clinical contexts (eg remote mental health services), as well as in some general practices across Australia. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] The Royal Flying Doctor Service operating out of its traditional bases in Queensland is one such telehealth primary care provider within this clinical context. 9 The telehealth consult shares many similar clinical elements to that of the traditional face-to-face general practice consult.…”

Toward Impactful Collaborations on Computing and Mental Health

“…These data, which are generally used for personalizing ads, were used instead to estimate a schizophrenia awareness index. Finally, Nicholas and colleagues [ 18 ] presented results from a survey completed by experts examining what they thought were the key issues with electronic health in psychiatry, including how it could be used for mental health promotion. The study identified 10 issues: access to care, integration and collaboration, education and awareness, mental health stigma, data privacy, trust, understanding and assessment of mental health, government and policy, optimal design, and engagement.…”

Expert Consensus Survey on Digital Health Tools for Patients With Serious Mental Illness: Optimizing for User Characteristics and User Support (Preprint)

“…Although DHTs hold significant promise for the improvement of various elements of behavioral health intervention, and surveys have indicated that people with SMI are enthusiastic about using technology [19,20], adoption has been slow, testing of outcomes from acceptability to effectiveness has been limited, and codified development and deployment strategies have been lacking [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. These preliminary efforts need to be undertaken before their effectiveness can be tested and verified so that the resulting findings can be incorporated into the redesign and reconfiguration of DHTs to provide an optimal solution.…”