eMHPrac Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 5, May 2021

eMHPrac Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 5, May 2021

Sign up below to receive monthly eMHPrac newsletters and updates about the latest digital mental health news, events, and resources.

Welcome to the May 2021 edition of the eMHPrac newsletter. This month, the big talk has been around the budget, with the government announcing a pledge of $2.3 billion in funding for mental health and suicide prevention over the next four years. This pledge includes $111.2 million towards expanding digital mental health services.

The last few years have been an exciting time in the digital mental health space, and the budget announcement brings a promise of ongoing innovation and development. In this vein, the eMHPrac team are excited to report on the launch of Mental Health Online’s brand new Virtual Reality (VR) Mindfulness experience, place. Read more about it below. We are also excited to promote the recently updated e-couch program – read more below.

In this edition:
  • Mental Health Online launches VR Mindfulness experiences
  • ‘e-couch’ program recently updated
  • Upcoming Live Webinars – Collaboration Between Health Professionals May 26 & 28 | Providing Mental Health Support for Refugees Jun 17
  • WellMob website: Feedback sought
  • See the eMHPrac team at these upcoming conferences
  • Read the latest dMH research articles
  • This month’s featured service: e-couch

Mental Health Online launches Virtual Reality mindfulness experiences

Swinburne University of Technology’s Mental Health Online (MHO) team has launched place – a series of virtual reality experiences designed to assist with mindfulness practice. place has been launched for free and users of the Mental Health Online service and has been developed and tested over the last 2 years by a team of researchers, psychologists, and VR developers.

The first of the VR mindfulness experiences to be launched are set in a relaxing forest environment filmed using a 360° camera. The experiences, which last around 15 minutes each, having varying levels of audio guidance to suit different levels of familiarity with mindfulness and circumstances as well as voice options to choose from.

Ideally accessed via a VR headset (stand-alone or smartphone VR headset), the experiences can also be accessed via computer or smartphone browser for a non-immersive experience.

The MHO team have trialed the experience with a variety of people including people who experience mental health issues, who have found them to beneficial in practicing mindfulness and helpful in overcoming some of the challenges relating to mindfulness practice including distracting thoughts and feelings.

The place VR mindfulness experiences are now available for Mental Health Online users to access via the mentalhealthonline.org.au website. Mental Health Online is a free service offering self-guided and therapist-supported management programs for people with a variety of mental health issues including anxiety disorders and depression.

Find out more

See the newly updated ‘e-couch’ program

e-couch is an online. self-directed training program which provides interactive self-help and evidence-based information to help users to understand and manage symptoms associated with common mental issues.

The program is like an interactive self-help book, which you can log back in to at any time to learn more skills or to add to your workbooks. 

e-couch offers five programs: Depression, Anxiety & Worry, Social Anxiety, Divorce & Separation, and Loss & Bereavement. Each program includes a comprehensive information module, as well as self-help modules with interactive exercises and workbooks which teach evidence-based strategies.

The website has recently been updated and modernised, making it quicker and easier to navigate and improving the overall user experience.

Visit e-couch

Upcoming Live Webinars

Webinar 46 | Collaboration between health professionals: The key to improving patient outcomes

Wed 26th May 8:00pm (Australia/Sydney)

Fri 28th May 1:00pm (Australia/Sydney)

In this upcoming webinar hosted by Black Dog Institute, the panel will discuss how GPs, Allied Health Professionals and Pharmacists can effectively work together to improve mental health outcomes for patients.

Learning objectives:

  • Explain the role of the pharmacist in monitoring and managing psychoactive medications.
  • Describe ways of working as a multidisciplinary team including pharmacists to monitor patients on long-term mental health care plans.
  • Identify referral pathways from pharmacists to general practice.
  • Identify online resources that may be useful in the community pharmacy context.
  • Understanding the benefits of a collaborative approach to patient care that includes pharmacists.
Register Now

Webinar 47 | Providing Mental Health Support for Refugees

Thurs 17th June 8:00pm (Australia/Sydney)

In this upcoming webinar hosted by Black Dog Institute, the panel will discuss how General Practitioners, psychologists and allied health professionals can support the mental health of patients who are Refugees.

Learning objectives:

  • Explain complex challenges experienced by refugees, including the prevalence of mental health problems.
  • Understand the role of culture in shaping individuals’ understanding and presentation of mental illness.
  • Explain factors which influence help-seeking behaviour among migrants and refugees with mental health problems.
  • Understand the importance of cultural understanding and a person-centred approach when working cross culturally.
Register Now

Have you got Indigenous clients and need Indigenous specific wellbeing resources

Take a look at WellMob – your one-stop shop for online Indigenous wellbeing resources

wellmob logo and circle artword

The WellMob team would appreciate your feedback on the website. Take part in their five minute user survey before 7 June 2021 for a chance to win a $200 Coles & Myer gift card. Also, feel free to subscribe to the upcoming WellMob newsletter which will feature culturally safe wellbeing resources.

Take part in the survey
emhprac logo

Catch us at these upcoming conferences:

International Mental Health Conference

26-28 July, RACV Royal Pines Resort, Gold Coast

‘Unite with a Community Changing the Face of Mental Health’

The International Mental Health Conference is designed for professionals, workers and volunteers to learn best practice, grow meaningful connections and implement real solutions to mental health care.

Special Offer!

As a proud member of the IMHC Committee, the eMHPrac Team are pleased to offer a discount of 10% on conference registration.

For every registration secured with this code, $100 will be donated to the IMHC ‘Lived Experience Fund’, which will offer scholarships for those with a lived experience background who wish to attend the conference.

Visit the conference website and use the code IMHCOMMITTEE when registering.

Learn more

On our reading radar…

Digital Clinics and Mobile Technology Implementation for Mental Health Care

Connolly, S.L. Kuhn, E., Possemato, K. et al. Digital Clinics and Mobile Technology Implementation for Mental Health Care. Curr Psychiatry Rep 23, 38 (2021). https://doi.org/110.1007/s11920-021-01254-8

“Digital clinics, in which apps are blended into routine care, offer a potential solution to common implementation challenges including low user engagement and lack of clinical integration of apps…”

“… While the number of mental health apps available in commercial marketplaces continues to rise, there are few examples of successful implementation of these apps in care settings. We review one example of a digital clinic created within an academic medical centre and another within the Department of Veterans Affairs…”

“… Integrating mental health apps into care settings is feasible but requires careful attention to multiple domains that will influence implementation success, including characteristics of the innovation (e.g., utility and complexity of the app), the recipients of the technology (e.g., patients and clinicians), and context (e.g., healthcare system buy-in, reimbursement, and regulatory policies).”

“Examples of effective facilitation strategies that can be utilised to improve implementation efforts include co-production of technology involving all end users, specialised trainings for staff and patients, creation of new team members to aid in app usage (e.g., digital navigators), and re-design of clinical workflows.”

Digital Health Interventions in Prevention, Relapse, and Therapy of Mild and Moderate Depression: Scoping Review

Tokgöz P, Hrynyschyn R, Hafner J, Schönfeld S, Dockweiler C. Digital Helath Interventions in Prevention, Relapsse, and Therapy of Mils and Moderate Depression: Scoping Review. JMIR Ment Health 2021;8(4):e26268 URL: https://mental.jmir.org/2021/4/e26268. DOI: 2196/26268

“The purpose of this scoping review was to give an overview of the digital health interventions used for depression…”

“… In total, 65 studies were included in the qualitative synthesis. After categorising the studies into the areas of prevention, early detection, therapy, and relapse prevention, we found dominant numbers of studies in the areas of therapy (n=52). There was only one study for prevention, 5 studies for early detection, and 7 studies for relapse prevention.”

“The most dominant therapy approaches were cognitive behavioural therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and problem-solving therapy. Most of the studies revealed significant effects of digital health interventions when cognitive behavioural therapy was applied. Cognitive behavioural therapy as the most dominant form was often provided through web-based systems. Combined interventions consisting of web-based and smartphone-based approaches are increasingly found…”

“… While most interventions can be beneficial to achieve a better depression treatment, it can be difficult to determine which approaches are suitable. Cognitive behavioural therapy through digital health interventions has shown good effects in the treatment of depression, but treatment for depression still stays very individualistic.”

This edition’s featured service… e-couch

ecouch logo

Free, self-help modules for depression, general anxiety and social anxiety, as well as for divorce/separation and loss/bereavement.

About e-couch

e-couch is an online, self-directed training program which provides interactive self-help and evidence-based information to help users to understand and manage symptoms associated with common mental issues.

The program is like an interactive self-help book, which you can log back in to at any time to learn more skills or to add to your workbooks.

e-couch offers five programs: Depression, Anxiety & Worry, Social Anxiety, Divorce & Separation, and Loss & Bereavement.

Each program includes a comprehensive information module, as well as self-help modules with interactive exercises and workbooks which teach evidence-based strategies.

You can complete the modules in any order. However, it is recommended that you complete the information module for each program first before exploring the self-help modules.

Who is e-couch for?

The e-couch program content is suitable for users aged 16 years or older who would like help with an emotional problem.

e-couch provides information about emotional problems – what causes them, how to prevent them and how to treat them. It includes exercises to help you understand yourself and others. Even better, it provides you with a set of strategies that might help you improve your life.

Is there a cost to use e-couch?

No. e-couch is free for use by all Australians, thanks to funding provided by the Commonwealth Department of Health.

How to access e-couch

To access e-couch, visit https://ecouch.com.au/ and register for an account.