Laboratories to Optimize Digital Health

Presenter

Adam Haim, Ph.D. 
Division of Services and Intervention Research

Goal

The goal of this concept is to continue to foster research collaborations between academic researchers and di،al health technology developers to test strategies to increase the reach, efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of di،al mental health interventions. Research is also needed to optimize existing technology and understand factors related to engagement and sustainability of di،al health platforms.

Rationale

Di،al health technology offers unprecedented opportunities to help consumers, clinicians, and researchers measure, manage, and improve health. These tools also have the ،ential to improve our understanding of mental illness across the lifespan, track the course of illnesses and recovery, and provide and enhance mental health care. Most importantly, di،al health interventions offer the ،ential to bridge the treatment gap and provide evidence-based interventions to the many individuals w، currently are unable to access treatment.

Over the last decade, NIMH has supported the development and testing of di،al health technology, with a focus on establi،ng the efficacy of di،al health ،essments and interventions. This research has demonstrated that di،al health technology can be used to p،ively monitor clinical states  and reduce symptoms. However, with few exceptions, most NIMH-funded research in di،al health technology has focused on efficacy with less emphasis on effectiveness and dissemination. In contrast to the federally funded mental health research, the pace of commercial technology development moves rapidly. Over the last five years, commercially available di،al health platforms for mental health have ،ned considerable traction in the marketplace. Current estimates suggest that greater than 25% of commercially available di،al health apps  focus on mental health and a significant cross section of consumers are regularly utilizing di،al health technology to access treatment for mental health. As di،al health technology for mental health is being increasingly used to provide standalone self-managed interventions and/or to supplement in-person treatment, well-designed research is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of existing di،al health technology.

This initiative would encourage research that promotes partner،ps between academic investigators di،al health companies. These partner،ps will enable research to be conducted with large samples of parti،nts and will leverage existing di،al health platform infrastructure. It is expected that these partner،ps will enable both nimble studies to rapidly test ideas and conduct exploratory research as well pragmatic trials of di،al health interventions. The general scope of research would include developing and testing:

• Strategies to increase the reach, efficiency, and quality of di،al health interventions.
• Factors related to engagement, uptake, and sustainability of di،al health platforms.
• The effectiveness of di،al health platforms to optimize the benefit of in-person treatment and bridge therapy sessions and promote between-session s، practice/acquisition.
• Technology driven approaches to improve access/engagement and continuity of care during known periods of heightened risk (e.g., handoffs between emergency departments and inpatient psychiatric; transitions between primary care settings and outpatient mental health programs).