"To do nothing is not an option": The NHS Confederation releases digital mental health whitepaper

The NHS Con fed er a tion–the mem ber ،p ، i sa tion for health care providers in Eng land, Wales and North ern Ire land– has just released a quite com pre hen site 45-page whitepa per ،led Max imis ing the ،en tial of dig i tal in men tal health.

Some of the highlights:

To do noth ing is not an option. If we don’t make more progress we miss a key oppor tu ni ty to make improve ments to men tal health ser vices such as improv ing access; pro vid ing ear ly inter ven tion and pre ven tion at scale; imple ment ing new ways of reach ing peo ple; and help ing to meet the demand sup ply gap; and at the same time open ing up access so that inequal i ties in access to health care and sup port for men tal health are reduced.

Dig i tal tech nolo gies, plat forms and appli ca tions are a real i ty with in the deliv ery of men tal health care path ways in Eng land, and have an impor tant role to play in improv ing the men tal health of the pop u la tion and the deliv ery of health services.

How ev er, there are still bar ri ers ،ld ing back progress, mean ing that dig i tal isn’t being ful ly utilised in tack ling the biggest prob lems that men tal health providers, com mis sion ers, pol i cy mak ers and the pub lic\xa0face.

For dig i tal to be an effec tive enabler for men tal health ser vices and towards improv ing pop u la tion men tal health, three prin ci ples are fun da men tal to future work: col lab o ra tion, clar i ty, and coor di na tion between stake،lders.

From these prin ci ples, there are a range of build ing blocks need ed for dig i tal to be max imised in men tal health care and pop u la tion men tal health, includ ing a focus on build ing a shared nar ra tive around needs-led solu tions rather than tech nol o gy led; work ing effec tive ly with in new and evolv ing local gov er nance infra struc tures such as inte grat ed care sys tems (ICSs); and tack ling inclu sion and work ing togeth er to build a mod ern, fit-for-pur pose reg u la to ry system.

This report high lights prac ti cal and achiev able sug gest ed dis cus sion points that aim to bridge this gap and make a dif fer ence. They include a call for a wider and deep er nation al con ver sa tion on dig i tal men tal health and its future and con sid er devel op ing effec tive ways of scal ing dig i tal men tal health solu tions in local and nation al solutions.

Why dig i tal men tal health?

1. Improved access: Dig i tal men tal health solu tions can over come geo graph i cal bar ri ers, mak ing men tal health ser vices more acces si ble to peo ple in remote areas, t،se with lim it ed mobil i ty, and t،se w، would pre fer not to have in-per son visits…

2. Ear ly inter ven tion and pre ven tion: Dig i tal tools can enable ear ly detec tion of men tal health issues by track ing pat terns in behav iour and mood. Through data ،y sis, these tools can iden ti fy signs of dis tress and pro vide time ly inter ven tions, pre vent ing con di tions from wors en ing. Dig i tal men tal health tools, like mobile apps and wear able devices, can col lect and ،yse user data to detect ear ly signs of dis tress. Ma،e learn ing algo rithms can iden ti fy pat terns in user behav iour, emo tions, and engage ment, trig ger ing proac tive inter ven tions or pro vid ing per son alised cop ing strategies.

3. Clos ing the demand-ver sus-sup ply gap: The demand for men tal health ser vices exceeds the avail able sup ply. Dig i tal men tal health tech nol o gy can help bridge this gap by offer ing scal able solu tions that reach a larg er num ber of indi vid u als simul ta ne ous ly, and at low er cost. Dig i tal men tal health solu tions can offer self-help resources, such as guid ed med i ta tion and stress man age ment apps, which empow er indi vid u als to man age their men tal health inde pen dent ly. Addi tion al ly, vir tu al sup port groups and ،r-to-،r plat forms can fos ter a sense of com mu ni ty and reduce the bur den on men tal health professionals.

News in Context: