Laura PortelaYoung people have unique considerations related to complex accessibility patterns and technology expectations that may not be observed when adults are the intended users of mental health technologies. Clinicians first provided insight into the digital tools they were currently using in their treatment sessions with young people, such as web-based videos and mood-tracking apps. Technology-based therapeutic tools not only offer clinical information and support to diverse audiences, but also provide social and supportive functions that may be absent or inaccessible to certain populations via traditional healthcare systems. Digital mental health with real-time screening, tracking, and treatment tools, especially platforms and web-based and smartphone apps, have yet to mature and are therefore not yet cost-effective.
- In addition, content presented through multiple delivery modes, such as both text and visuals, promoted engagement as well as accessibility.
- They play an important role in shaping public opinion, marketing, news distribution, and social movements.
- Several RCTs have reported positive effects of self‐guided well‐being apps on various adaptive psychological attributes, including emotion regulation101, mindful awareness102, psychological flexibility103, subjective well‐being104, social functioning105, and self‐esteem106.
- These apps might involve watching an educational video about anxiety management or the importance of social support, for example.
- For each category of technology, you will find a brief description and a review of its applications in assessment, prevention, treatment, and recovery support efforts targeting behavioral health.
In this future, mental health is approached holistically, addressing the mind-body-environment connection, while ensuring privacy and autonomy through secure data management. In a world where personal data is the currency of digital health, Omega struggles to trust any of the technologies available. The rise of digital phenotyping, which collects vast amounts of personal data to predict mental health trends, further fuels Omega’s distrust. Various solutions, such as digital phenotyping, brain implants, and AI-driven therapies, were marketed as revolutionising mental health care, but many of them fall short of their promises. She retains control over who can access her data, with transparent options for sharing based on her treatment needs and consent. As Beta continues her journey, she does so in a world that understands mental health challenges better and is equipped with unprecedented tools and support systems.
Purpose of Review
Self-help smartphone programs were either most commonly combined with behavioral interventions or with psychotherapeutic interventions. The JBI quality assessments of all retrieved studies can be found in Supplementary Table 2. When inspecting the interventions, and in line with the predominance of samples with mental disorders, psychotherapeutic interventions are strongly represented in the literature. ACT, acceptance and commitment therapy; CBT, cognitive behavioral therapy; XR, extended reality. Taxonomy of implemented technologies, determined through inductive qualitative analysis, and their description.
Diagnostic Support
Firstly, we focus on the near future, illustrating an ideal scenario for the integration of current technological advancements into mental health care systems. Finally, research into the side effects of digital health interventions remains inadequate (Schulte et al., 2024; Bear et al., 2022). Education about the handling of personal data and security measures should be an integral part of any digital health intervention. Secondly, it is crucial to ensure transparency, security, and data protection for all user groups, including e.g., children, parents, elderly participants, therapists, health care providers and teachers. In their conclusion, they summarise the above-mentioned factors necessary for successful implementation as a “well-functioning digital ecosystem – with adaptable, interoperable digital tools, robust information and communication technology foundations and an enabling environment” (p. 1). Erku et al. (Erku et al., 2023) analysed 65 articles on the implementation of digital technology in primary care.
First and foremost, protection of mental health information among these technologies is a pressing issue given the complex regulatory structure of the digital landscape. There are several other important limitations of the current digital mental health landscape. Recent years have seen the exponential growth of digital mental health; however, as reviewed earlier, we are just at the beginning of some of the most innovative and potentially disruptive changes. Although we can improve detection with digital phenotyping and we can reduce the fragmentation of care with digital collaborative care, if people do not want the care we offer, digital tools are not likely to fix the overall problem of morbidity and mortality.
Digital health technologies (DHTs) have the capacity to facilitate mental health treatment for those who don’t have access to in-person services, but research around effectiveness and proper use is still nascent. https://www.ihs.gov/california/index.cfm/offices/oph/bh/resources/helpful-organizations/ Organizations like Lifeline utilize awareness campaigns to highlight crucial crisis support, including hotlines and text services, enabling instant access to help via technology, thus reinforcing the mental health support system. A. Technology in mental health expands accessibility to care through telemedicine and offers real-time tracking via mobile apps.
A thorough discussion of the broad set of security issues related to the use of mobile devices in the general healthcare environment is beyond the scope of this TIP. However, some unique considerations arise when collecting data and/or delivering interventions using electronic media. As in traditional clinical scenarios, ethical principles and procedures related to protecting clients’ privileged information (confidentiality), protecting clients’ rights to control access to their information (privacy), and protecting client data from being accessed without authorization (security) are of paramount importance.
