During 2024 eMHPrac Director, Heidi Sturk, attended two international conferences on digital mental health:
- eMHIC’s Digital Mental Health International Congress held in Ottawa, Canada in September 2024. The Congress brought together 429 delegates from 28 countries to discuss the advancements, challenges, and future global directions in digital mental health.
- The International Society for Research on Internet Interventions (ISRII)’s 12th Scientific Meeting in Limerick, Ireland in June 2024. The conference hosted 435 attendees from around the world and featured over 350 presentations on eHealth advancements focusing on behavioural, mental, and psychosocial health.
Heidi outlined eMHPrac’s activities in her presentation “Building health workforce capability to utilise digital mental health”. There is strong global interest in training clinicians about digital mental health and eMHPrac are certainly seen as a leading and innovative service. Both conferences were excellent opportunities to share and learn from other digital mental health researchers, policy makers, service providers, frontline workers, lived experience advocates and healthcare IT experts around the world.
Digital Health Innovations from a Selection of Countries
Strategy:
The Mental Health Commission of Canada launched the nation’s first e-Mental Health Strategy, embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion principles to ensure the accessibility and safety of digital mental health services.
Navigation:
Kids Help Phone announced a new youth mental health navigation tool which connects youth and caregivers to curated resource. The aim is to empower youth to create their own personalised ecosystem of tools, resources and services that evolve with them.
National Platform:
Leveraging digital solutions in their National Mental Health and Well-Being Strategy to enhance coordination, optimise capacity and promote self-care. They offer a comprehensive digital mental health platform mindline.sg for all Singaporeans. AI is utilised to improve service delivery and as a service option.
Low Intensity Intervention:
The NHS Talking Therapies program (previously IAPT) provides low-intensity psychological interventions such as guided self-help, CBT, and counselling.
Quality Assurance:
Head office base for ORCHA (Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps), a global leader in digital health accreditation and distribution services. ORCHA establishes quality assurance procedures, offers tailored app libraries and is utilised in 12 countries.
Digital Competence Framework:
Development of frameworks to integrate digital skills into clinical training for psychologists, supported by eLearning and measurement tools.
National Programme:
Offers a national programme overseeing a range of digital options. Maximising digital mental health reach and impact through integration into government policy, service models, operational management and clinical guidance.
National Digital CBT Service:
Offers a national digital CBT service in partnership with SilverCloud to increase mental health support accessibility, and are achieving significant referrals and activations. Their new digital mental health strategy will be completed by the end of 2024.
National Framework:
National framework for digital mental health on quality, patient safety, digital inclusion, ethics and evidence. Offer internet-based CBT services through the public health system for people with mild to moderate mental health concerns. Scaling this up and examining current self-help seeking behaviours to inform the design. Also focusing on training staff and patients in digital ways of working.
Prescription and Reimbursement:
Integrates prescribable and reimbursable DiGAs (Digital Health Applications) into the healthcare system. The DiGA system represents an innovative way of integrating digital mental health tools into formal healthcare pathways, improving accessibility and offering modern solutions to mental health challenges.
Implementation:
Creation of a structured plan by leading researchers to integrate digital mental health services into healthcare organizations, emphasizing training, engagement, continuous quality improvement, and scaling.
Generative AI:
Google Health discussed the potential of generative AI to address mental health challenges at the population level, improving prevention and diagnosis.
Standards and Regulation:
Australia’s National Safety and Quality Digital Mental Health Standards were the world’s first, setting pillars based on international best practices.
Youth Digital Interventions:
Development of platforms like “MOST”, “Momentum” and VR applications to treat phobias, social anxiety, and PTSD with immersive therapies.
Top Themes from Both Conferences
Trust and Standards
- The digital mental health landscape must prioritise establishing trust in digital solutions.
- There is a need for global standards and policies in digital mental health, with insights from countries like Australia, Canada and the European Union on their frameworks and regulatory efforts to ensure safe and effective digital mental health solutions.
- Regulators and developers should work together to set and maintain standards, while clinicians and users need ongoing education about safe and effective tools.
Integration, Engagement and Scaling
- Strategies and implementation plans are required to guide the integration of digital mental health services into healthcare organisations.Top of Form
- National digital CBT services are expanding access to mental health resources in many countries (eg. Scotland, Ireland, Denmark).
- Digital mental tools need to be personalized and integrated into broader systems to be effective.
- Development of blended care models combining traditional and digital services can enhance effectiveness and accessibility.
- Need for industry partnerships.
Workforce Development
- Importance of building a skilled and competent workforce capable of utilizing digital mental health tools, with emphasis on strategic planning and training frameworks to support digital service delivery.
Leveraging AI for Mental Health
- AI-driven solutions such as CBT bots and machine learning models are being explored for large-scale mental health interventions, aiming to personalize care and address workforce shortages.
- Generative AI offers promising solutions for scalable mental health care, however care must be taken to ensure transparency and ethical use, and front-end investment will be necessary for long-term success.
Peer Support
- Digital platforms leveraging peer support are gaining prominence. These platforms help meet the growing demand for mental health services in a scalable and safe way.
Youth and Child Mental Health
- Digital platforms specifically designed for youth are aimed at reducing barriers and providing tailored and scalable mental health support to children and adolescents.
First Nations and Indigenous Communities
- Culturally relevant digital interventions are being developed to address the unique mental health needs of Indigenous people.
Disadvantaged Countries and Refugees
- A range of digital mental health interventions are being developed for refugees and migrant populations to bridge the gap in mental health care access, particularly in low-resource settings.
Summary
Both conferences highlighted the importance of integrating digital tools into mental health systems, the need for workforce development, and the potential of AI in delivering personalized care. Collaboration between researchers, policymakers, clinicians, consumers and technology developers will be crucial in advancing digital mental health and ensuring it is accessible, safe, and effective for all.
Please contact Heidi at heidi.sturk@qut.edu.au if you would like any more information from these conferences.
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