What are digital mental health interventions? Digital technology is employed in innovative therapy treatments for mental health problems. The technologies and techniques vary in design and target different aspects or signs to diagnose mental health issues and work towards therapy or ‘treatment’. Three main functions such interventions serve are; learning, application, and review.
We have asked experts in digital mental health interventions to share their experience and knowledge with us.
“Mental health is probably the last thing you might think about when talking about health care. We tend to overlook mental health because we can not see the physical consequences of a mental disorder. Until it becomes too serious or until it is too late. According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 4 people will suffer from a mental disorder at least once in their life. If you think about the world population which is around 7 billion people, then you have a gigantic number of people suffering from their mental health. The digital world is not only about Social Media and fancy-looking gadgets, it also produces and offers humanity new tools to make their lives easier and better. Digital Mental Health interventions are digital programs designed to address, treat and help with mental health struggles, especially on people who lack health care providers/resources. Sadly, the accessibility and availability of proper mental health care is a luxury in most parts of our world. The implementation of digital tools that can provide an access to mental health diagnosis and treatments suggest a great hope for humanity, especially in these recent times where in-person appointments are not considered essential, or people don't have the access to afford a mental health specialist.”
Tom Winter, HR Tech recruitment Advisor & Co-founder of DevSkiller
“Running a business is not like a walk in the park. It’s hard and you can go insane if you don’t manage yourself effectively. One of my favorite hacks for mindfulness is “Headspace”. It is a mental health app that helps me in meditation and also keeps my stress levels in check. With Headspace I can juggle being a dad as well as a CEO without going crazy.”
Sandra Saenz, Marketing Manager The Spanish Group LLC
“OnPage Corporation, a Boston-based clinical communication and collaboration (CC&C) company, recognizes the importance of behavioral therapy and a patient's need for immediate access to care. The company is dedicated to streamlining care team communication processes in the industry through cutting-edge technology. Aside from relying on OnPage's CC&C system for care team collaboration, mental health organizations also trust OnPage's dedicated lines with live call routing capabilities as the first line of intervention. Dedicated lines allow patients to dial one number to reach a clinician's office. If the patient's call is answered, the patient connects with the mental health representative on a live phone call. In the event that the first on-call health representative is unavailable, the call automatically routes to the next on-call representative. In the event that no one picks up the call, the patient gets a prompt to leave a voicemail with their contact details. This voicemail then routes through the escalation path until someone responds to it. OnPage's alert-until-read technology ensures that critical messages are never missed. The feature is designed to rapidly improve patient-to-clinician communications and patient access to immediate care. It ensures that patients receive timely care in times of crisis. Our dedicated lines and live call capabilities are trusted by large mental health organizations including Distress Center of Ottawa and Region and The Dragonfly House Children's Advocacy Center. These organizations have shared positive experiences with the OnPage platform. Among both clinicians and crisis line volunteers, their experiences with OnPage resulted in: Improved organizational communications and accelerated patient care, Improved accessibility to immediate care, Seamless workflows.”
Judit Sharon, CEO OnPage
“MindReset: Utilising the very latest in eye tracking software we have partnered with an organisation who created the worlds first eye tracking for mobile phones. The technology traces the users eye movements as they are asked certain context specific questions, for example anxiety. The science behind EMDR tells us that the eye movement correlates to emotional problems, so we are literally able to track the users subconsciously stored memories that are related to the subject matter. Next we use the most up to date research on memory reconsolidation, basically when we access an old memory it comes to life neurochemically for a few hours, by changing the thoughts during this time period, we have a window of opportunity that can allow healing to take place. The app then scans at the end to ensure that the client has had a shift. The funky part of the MindReset app is that it allows the user to access it without giving away any personal data, whatsoever! This is a vital step because research shows that autonomy, the ability to choose freely for oneself, is paramount to helping people to take control of their lives. The mental health crisis is now worse than ever, so we need an effective way to help people improve their mental health on their own terms. The sessions take just 2 minutes, but how can it be so fast? This is where the Split-second Unlearning (SSU) model (under peer review) comes in to play. Trauma and or adverse childhood experiences (ACE's) can leave life long memories that impact mental and physical health. The memory of the original event is stored as an emotional memory image (EMI) inside the minds eye. This EMI is accessed subconsciously whenever anything resembling the original experience occurs. The SSU model seeks to interrupt the connection between the EMI and the fight/flight/freeze response. This process of 'unlearning' must take place rapidly, at the same speed the original trauma took place. The MindReset app technology merges all that we currently know about trauma, mental health and the brain, to give a fast, effective and affordable solution to the the mental health pandemic.”
Matt Hudson, behavior expert, Mind International Training Associates LTD
Digital Mental Health Intervention Tools can greatly aid in mental health diagnosis and treatment, as studies have shown. It is high time mental health was granted the care and attention as physical well-being.