Therapeutic applications of the mobile phone

Abstract

As the availability of new communication technologies increases, mental health professionals have incorporated these innovations into their practice and research. Up to now several studies have presented promising results in using the power and convenience of the Internet for clinical care. While multiple contributions focus on the potential and the advantages of therapies delivered through the Internet, mental health practitioners may take into account new technological opportunities to improve their practice. Mobile phone diffusion is expanding worldwide at breath-taking speed. In fewer than 20 years, mobile phones have gone from being rare and expensive pieces of equipment used primarily by the business elite, to a pervasive low-cost personal item. In many countries, mobile phones now outnumber land-line telephones, with most adults and many children now owning mobile phones. With high levels of mobile telephone penetration, a mobile culture has evolved, where the phone becomes a key social and cultural tool. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potentialities that mobile phones may offer in clinical care. The paper will investigate in which areas of clinical interventions mobile phones have already been successfully applied. Moreover, the paper will discuss these opportunities by presenting the results of two different studies based on the use of the mobile phone for anxiety management.

TelEMA: a low-cost and user-friendly telephone assessment platform

“…Additionally, although there is some evidence of comparable compliance rates between paper-and-pencil and handheld electronic device EMA methods (Green, Rafaeli, Bolger, Shrout, & Reis, 2006), other studies have found evidence that the use of experimenter-provided mobile phones in completing surveys shows a higher level of participant compliance than paper-and-pencil EMA methodologies (Preziosa, Grassi, Gaggioli, & Riva, 2009). …”

PROYECTO MAMÁFELIZ: Estudio sobre la Salud Mental prenatal a través de Internet

“…En los últimos años, se han desarrollado apps para la salud mental que han demostrado un buen potencial para el manejo del estrés y la ansiedad (Preziosa, Grassi, Gaggioli y Riva, 2009;Repetto et al, 2013;Villani y Riva, 2012;Villani et al, 2013). En este sentido podemos citar algún ejemplo de apps disponibles para la atención de los trastornos emocionales en el periodo prenatal.…”

Exploring the effectiveness of a mindfulness training app for managing stress in a university student population : a pilot study

“…Some of these areas include the use of mobile phones for managing exam stress (Preziosa, Grassi, Gaggioli, & Riva, 2009), a mobile-based stress-management program for employees (Heber et al, 2013), and a mobile-based program for reducing stress during commuting trips ). According to Cleland, Caldow, and Ryan (2007), among the many advantages of using a mobile approach to reduce stress could include: 1) an acquisition of coping skills in a more autonomous way, 2) allowing for a more ubiquitous and effective support in facing daily stressful situations, 3) an enhancement of people's compliance, and 4) the possibility of living graded exposure experiences in real-world settings.…”

“…In particular, mobile phones are gaining particular importance in health care services (Free et al, 2010;Kumar et al, 2013), as there appears to be a large increase in the use of mobile phones for a variety of therapeutic applications (Preziosa, Grassi, Gaggioli, & Riva, 2009). According to Cleland, Caldow, and Ryan (2007), among the many advantages of using a mobile approach to reduce stress could include both an incremental acquisition of coping skills in a more autonomous way, as well as allowing for a more ubiquitous and effective support in facing daily stressful situations.…”

“…In particular, mobile phones are gaining particular importance in health care services (Free et al, 2010;Kumar et al, 2013), as there appears to be a large increase in the use of mobile phones for a variety of therapeutic applications (Preziosa, Grassi, Gaggioli, & Riva, 2009). Some of these areas include the use of mobile phones for managing exam stress (Preziosa, Grassi, Gaggioli, & Riva, 2009), a mobile-based stress-management program for employees (Heber et al, 2013), and a mobile-based program for reducing stress during commuting trips ).…”