Below are definitions of key terms used in Digital Mental Health Research.
What is “Digital Mental Health?”
Any technology that can be used for the purpose of prevention, assessment, treatment, or recovery of mental health symptoms or to support user well-being, including: mobile apps, computerized treatments, wearables (e.g., Apple watch), virtual reality, peer support, robots, gaming, big data, and telemedicine.
The Power of Digital Mental Health:
“Digital health connects and empowers people and populations to manage health and wellness, augmented by accessible and supportive provider teams working within flexible, integrated, interoperable, and digitally-enabled care environments that strategically leverage digital tools, technologies and services to transform care delivery.”
– Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
Report of mental health symptoms have increased since the pandemic. Digital mental health is essential to address the present need for mental health and wellness interventions.
Key Considerations for Implementation of Digital Mental Health:
Feasibility is the degree to which a technology-based product can be successfully integrated within the flow of usual care. It is an iterative process, often measured by frequency of use, that can be evaluated to identify patient, provider, and user operational barriers to use to optimize implementation within the existing system.
Acceptability is a patient’s or user’s willingness to engage with a specific digital mental health tool. It can be assessed using focus groups, interviews, or structured questionnaires, and it is evaluated to increase understanding of what factors can increase use and engagement and what factors create a user disconnect from the product.
Assessing feasibility and acceptability is a critical first step prior to engaging in digital mental health research evaluating effectiveness.
