New Research sheds light on the clinical value of digital mental healthcare. July 2020

In the era of digital medicine, especially in the area of digital mental healthcare, only a small fraction of clinical data one can point to as being effective. This research validates that digital mental healthcare can reduce mental condition symptoms and improve functioning depending on the service provider.

The study of participants reveals the effectiveness of digital mental healthcare amongst the users of the service. The results were published in Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, 11(2), 57-71. https://doi.org/10.18662/brain/11.2/74

“Now that we know that digital mental healthcare improves the condition of patients depending on the service provider. It is time for those countries lacking traditional mental healthcare infrastructures to step up to the plate. And implement cost-effective digital health care”, said SU Sofia mental health researcher, Dr. Abiola Bamijoko-Okungbaye, the lead author of the paper.

“With over 400 million people struggling with mental disorders globally, making it one of the leading factors affecting the well-being of individuals. It is time for people-driven care solutions.”

The researchers compared the findings across demographics and measured psychopathology to ensure that participants reach the threshold of clinical intervention –effectiveness, in terms of recovery and coping, cost, and hint about the future use of the service to determine the long term efficacy of the service. The surprise of the research come about when men were disinclined to use the service in the future due to the stigma associated with men struggling with mental disorders.

“When mental health campaign is designed, it is most times designed to be gender- neutral to promote equality, as we notice now that the stigma associated with mental disorders is experienced differently with both genders. We must develop a gender-sensitive campaign-concept based on available data in the region that we are campaigning in, for the campaign to be effective”, said NW Mmbatho clinical psychologist Prof.Dr. Erhabor Sunday Idemudia, who co-authored the study.

“Value-based digital mental health will be effective. As long variables in the contextual description of patient’s experiences, and individual factors (psycho-social analysis) are incorporated into the treatment whether you live in Dundalk, Abuja, Tokyo, or New York.”

For this reason, culturally competent mental health apps’ developers will improve the service they offer to users of their digital health apps. “This is important in pluralistic societal settings. Because it encourages rapprochement amongst groups,” The authors said.

“A spike in anxiety levels was recorded globally during the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting more people to resort to digital healthcare, research must exist that validate the clinical effectiveness of digital healthcare otherwise we won’t be able to know the added clinical value in terms of effectiveness and policy .”

This research supports the expansion of digital healthcare. By so doing, we take the pressure off the traditional mental healthcare ecosystem, allowing practitioners to deal with more severe cases. In times of pandemic, climate change or disaster, this can help in reducing mortality rates.

The challenge that the further development of digital mental health faces is how to integrate the digital model into the analogue component of existing traditional mental healthcare infrastructure.There seems to be an option to integrate, which will entail disrupting and investing in the existing infrastructure. If this is unsuccessful, the digital healthcare advancement will continue its rise requiring the technology to take its course.

About HM Non-Profit

HM was birthed to promote mental health education registered in Spain and globally active, offices in Spain and Ireland. One of the goals of the organisation is the eradication of the stigma surrounding mental health conditions.