With The ABC’s Mental as Week Is On. It Is Important To Be Reminded What E-Mental Health Can Do.

This week the ABC is conducting a week of educational programmes on Mental Health and how it can be identified, managed and lived with much more satisfactorily.

Here is the link:

http://www.abc.net.au/mentalas/

Interestingly there have been some articles appear on the topic and the blog has previously covered all sorts of interesting e-Mental Health initiatives.

Use the search function with “mental health” and there is heaps to find.

In the last week of so I have noticed the following:

First here:

Don’t get left behind, be a part of the new world

30th Sep 2014

GENERAL practice runs the risk of getting left behind if it does not keep up with the technology available to its patients.

Dr Jan Orman
GP Services Consultant, Black Dog Institute

E-mental health resources, especially online therapy, is an area GPs seem to know little about but will increasingly be expected to know about in the future. There’s a degree of scepticism but overall the problem is simply lack of knowledge of these resources and how to use them.

There’s no argument about the efficacy of online CBT for a variety of diagnoses in the mild to moderate stress, anxiety and depression categories. My experience is GPs acquainted with the evidence are generally convinced.

That hurdle overcome, the next is imagining where online therapy might fit.

The Better Outcomes in Mental Health initiative made face-to-face psychological therapy available to many who’d previously been unable to afford it, albeit in a limited way. We all know that isn’t nearly enough. 

 Lots more here:

http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/news/dont-get-left-behind-be-a-part-of-the-new-world

And here:

Internet based or computerised CBT (iCBT or CCBT): depression and anxiety

About 85% of patients with depression have significant anxiety

Intervention

Internet-based or computerised cognitive behavioural therapy programs.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the main psychological treatment approach available as computer- or internet-based programs.

Indication

Depression and anxiety.

Treatment programs have been studied in patients with mild-to-moderate, moderate-to-severe and severe depression.

iCBT may be particularly useful for patients in rural and remote locations and for patients with mobility issues.

Lots more here with useful references:

http://www.racgp.org.au/your-practice/guidelines/handi/interventions/internet-based-or-computerised-cbt-for-depression-and-anxiety/

Lastly the UK is pushing in the same direction:

Confed wants e-mental health strategy

2 October 2014   Lis Evenstad

The Department of Health and NHS England should create a national strategy for e-mental health and invest in a national programme to support this, says a report by NHS Confederation.

The report, entitled ‘The future’s digital - mental health and technology’, surveyed the members of the Confederation’s Mental Health Network about their current use and plans for utilising technology.

It found that although organisations were clear that technology could be used to improve patient care, there was a lack of a sense of “future vision and the right skills” in the workforce.

“Our existing ways of evaluating new products and services, and ensuring their safety, are too slow to enable our services to keep up with the pace of technological change we see all around us,” says the report.

It says that although there are “fantastic examples across the country”, these need to be learned from and adopted across the board.

“However, there are some common problems it makes sense to tackle at a national level, under the banner of the development of a national strategy for e-mental health,” it adds.

“We believe a national strategy for e-mental health, co-developed and co-owned by national bodies, should be developed in 2015-16.

More here:

http://www.ehi.co.uk/news/EHI/9666/confed-wants-e-mental-health-strategy

All worth a browse. I especially think the self help services that are emerging may make a big difference.

Enjoy.

David.