My View: Transforming the eMental health domain for 2021 and beyond

eHealthNews.nz: Digital Patient

My View: Transforming the eMental health domain for 2021 and beyond

Tuesday, 8 December 2020

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VIEW - Anil Thapliyal, executive director of the eMental health International Collaborative

Regardless of which part of Earth we live on, 2020 has forever been etched in our memories. At the time of writing, the world has been recording an average of 9250 Covid-19 deaths per day- a staggering number by any measure.

The impact of this escalating death toll compounded with second waves of infection, intermittent lockdowns and ensuing economic impact are contributing to unprecedented levels of mental health issues.

Already stretched mental health services are feeling even more strain in responding to Covid-19 related demand.

A recent article in The Guardian newspaper reported that twice the number of people as normal are expecting to spend Christmas alone this year as a result of the pandemic. These figures have prompted new concerns about a “silent epidemic of loneliness”.

Creative solutions

Despite these bleak statistics, the world has seen unprecedented efforts to mobilise creative solutions to support people with their mental health, both at individual and community levels.

This year, the eMental Health International Collaborative (eMHIC) has seen tremendous willingness and motivation to collaborate across borders- from Singapore, Sweden, Australia, UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the APEC region.

Governments around the world are seeking scalable, innovative eMental Health solutions to support people’s journey through the healthcare system.

We at eMHIC see the strengthening of an eMental Health and Addiction ecosystem as a once in a lifetime opportunity to mitigate inequities and connect with the disconnected.

An opportunity

Fast tracked proliferation of innovation has seen some amazing eMental Health solutions being developed and exceptional capital being injected into the long cash-starved domain of eMental Health.

While this sudden surge of developments is very encouraging, if unchecked without overarching systems-level planning (frameworks, standards and/or guidelines) it has the potential to create quality assurance and safety challenges whether it be security, privacy, data integrity or efficacy.

We need to maintain our drive to ensure digital solutions are either evidence based (or at the least, evidence informed), meet minimum standards and cause no harm.

Understanding a person’s journey through engaging with supports and services is pivotal in ensuring that we don’t waste this opportunity and create yet another siloed approach to healthcare.

The journey

We aspire to see eMental Health solutions spanning a person’s journey from information provision and wellbeing advice to self-help tools and treatment interventions alongside mental health services.

It is important that we dismantle the silos which impede a person’s wellbeing journey through effective integration, inter-operability or even more importantly re-imagining the current and archaic procurement, commissioning and implementation processes which are often steeped in legacy issues.

Part of this is acknowledging the importance of the breadth of delivery modes of eMental Health solutions (text, online forums, social media, websites, phone and apps) which are all integral and inter-dependent parts of the eMental Health ecosystem.

In many cases, these various modes serve as digital lifelines, enabling a person to be in control of their recovery at a time and place of their choosing, stay safe and maintain a sense of belonging and connection.

Locking in the benefits

In order to truly capitalise on the benefits of digital solutions, I would like to see more innovative approaches which address equity issues such as the Ministry of Health’s Sponsored Data Partnership.

I applaud this initiative which saw Spark work together with other telecommunications providers to offer access to particular mental health resources without incurring data charges. Initiatives like this are precisely what is needed to break down existing silos and enable access to all populations.

2020 has well and truly cemented my resolve that if the eMental Health solutions don’t work for the people using them, their whānau and carers then they don’t work at all.

Anil Thapliyal is Executive Director of the eMental Health International Collaborative