A bridging the gap: The imperative for a digital platform in community mental health services
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Oct 11, 2024
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Abstract
Community mental health services face ongoing challenges including fragmented care, difficulties evaluating outcomes, barriers to standardized support and educational tools, and stigmatizing attitudes. Digital technologies hold promises to help address gaps, but currently lack integrated platforms connecting services. Objective: To review literature on digital mental health interventions and examine their implications for a proposed cross-service digital platform in community mental health. Methods: A literature search identified peer-reviewed studies published between 2022-2024 evaluating digital tools in community or related mental health contexts. Relevant findings were synthesized regarding standardized platforms, remote psychological therapies, digitally enabled peer support, and technologies for stigma reduction. Results: Research supports digital platforms can help standardize functions, collect uniform outcomes data, and facilitate continuous learning. Smartphone apps show the potential to deliver effective remote therapies when combined with clinician support. Preliminary studies demonstrate digital peer support may mitigate loneliness and social connection platforms can positively shape attitudes. Conclusions: A thoughtfully designed shared digital platform incorporating validated tools, networked services, peer connection and stigma-reduction technologies may address fragmentation and empower community mental health clients. However, further research validating models is still needed given existing gaps. Equity, privacy, change management and adaptability must also be considered in future development and testing.
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How to Cite
Kusumawaty, I., Yunike, Y. and Harmiyati, L. (2024) “A bridging the gap: The imperative for a digital platform in community mental health services”, Science Midwifery, 12(4), pp. 1601-1609. doi: 10.35335/midwifery.v12i4.1686.
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Patel, V., Flisher, A. J., Hetrick, S., & McGorry, P. (2007). Mental health of young people: a global public-health challenge. The Lancet, 369(9569), 1302–1313.
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Sun, L. (2023). Social media usage and students’ social anxiety, loneliness and well-being: does digital mindfulness-based intervention effectively work? BMC Psychology, 11(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01398-7
Szekely, R., Mason, O., Frohlich, D. M., & Barley, E. A. (2024). Acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary evaluation of an animated VR game for reducing mental health stigma in health-care students and trainees: a mixed-method study. Mental Health and Digital Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1108/mhdt-03-2024-0010
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Viron, M. J., & Stern, T. A. (2010). The impact of serious mental illness on health and healthcare. Psychosomatics, 51(6), 458–465.
Wathoni, R. N., & Santoso, A. S. (2023). There’s an App for That: Development of a Digital App for Mental Health Issues. Qeios.
Austin, S., Bandealy, A., & Cawley, E. (2024). Technology meets clinical practice: Keel Mind as a digital therapy platform. Mental Health and Digital Technologies, 1(1), 99–111. https://doi.org/10.1108/mhdt-02-2024-0006
Birken, M., Chipp, B., Shah, P., Olive, R. R., Nyikavaranda, P., Hardy, J., Chhapia, A., Barber, N., Lee, S., Pearce, E., Lloyd-Evans, B., Perkins, R., McDaid, D., Stefanidou, T., Shafran, R., Pitman, A., & Johnson, S. (2023). Exploring the experiences of loneliness in adults with mental health problems: A participatory qualitative interview study. PLoS ONE, 18(3 March), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280946
Bravata, D. M., Kim, J., Russell, D. W., Goldman, R., & Pace, E. (2023). Digitally Enabled Peer Support Intervention to Address Loneliness and Mental Health: Prospective Cohort Analysis. JMIR Formative Research, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.2196/48864
Catania, J., Beaver, S., Kamath, R. S., Worthington, E., Lu, M., Gandhi, H., Waters, H. C., & Malone, D. C. (2024). Evaluation of Digital Mental Health Technologies in the United States: Systematic Literature Review and Framework Synthesis. JMIR Mental Health, 11(1), e57401.
de Boer, T. R., Mérelle, S., Bhulai, S., Gilissen, R., & van der Mei, R. (2023). Forecasting call and chat volumes at online helplines for mental health. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15887-2
Dwan, K., Altman, D. G., Clarke, M., Gamble, C., Higgins, J. P. T., Sterne, J. A. C., Williamson, P. R., & Kirkham, J. J. (2014). Evidence for the selective reporting of analyses and discrepancies in clinical trials: a systematic review of cohort studies of clinical trials. PLoS Medicine, 11(6), e1001666.
Fink, A. (2019). Conducting research literature reviews: From the internet to paper. Sage publications.
Gross, J. J., & Muñoz, R. F. (1995). Emotion regulation and mental health. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 2(2), 151.
Hornstein, S., Scharfenberger, J., Lueken, U., Wundrack, R., & Hilbert, K. (2024). Predicting recurrent chat contact in a psychological intervention for the youth using natural language processing. Npj Digital Medicine, 7(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-024-01121-9
Hughes, G., Moore, L., Hennessy, M., Sandset, T., Jentoft, E. E., & Haldar, M. (2024). What kind of a problem is loneliness? Representations of connectedness and participation from a study of telepresence technologies in the UK. Frontiers in Digital Health, 6(February). https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2024.1304085
Keet, R., de Vetten-Mc Mahon, M., Shields-Zeeman, L., Ruud, T., van Weeghel, J., Bahler, M., Mulder, C. L., Van Zelst, C., Murphy, B., & Westen, K. (2019). Recovery for all in the community; position paper on principles and key elements of community-based mental health care. BMC Psychiatry, 19, 1–11.
Lal, S., & Adair, C. E. (2014). E-mental health: a rapid review of the literature. Psychiatric Services, 65(1), 24–32.
LaMonica, H. M., Iorfino, F., Lee, G. Y., Piper, S., Occhipinti, J. A., Davenport, T. A., Cross, S., Milton, A., Ospina-Pinillos, L., Whittle, L., Rowe, S. C., Dowling, M., Stewart, E., Ottavio, A., Hockey, S., Cheng, V. W. S., Burns, J., Scott, E. M., & Hickie, I. B. (2022). Informing the Future of Integrated Digital and Clinical Mental Health Care: Synthesis of the Outcomes From Project Synergy. JMIR Mental Health, 9(3), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.2196/33060
Lattie, E. G., Nicholas, J., Knapp, A. A., Skerl, J. J., Kaiser, S. M., & Mohr, D. C. (2020). Opportunities for and tensions surrounding the use of technology-enabled mental health services in community mental health care. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 47, 138–149.
Liu, M., & Schueller, S. M. (2023). Moving Evidence-Based Mental Health Interventions into Practice: Implementation of Digital Mental Health Interventions. Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry, 10(4), 333–345. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40501-023-00298-2
Magid, K., Sagui-Henson, S. J., Sweet, C. C., Smith, B. J., Chamberlain, C. E. W., & Levens, S. M. (2024). The Impact of Digital Mental Health Services on Loneliness and Mental Health: Results from a Prospective, Observational Study. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 31(3), 468–478. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-023-10204-y
Patel, V., Flisher, A. J., Hetrick, S., & McGorry, P. (2007). Mental health of young people: a global public-health challenge. The Lancet, 369(9569), 1302–1313.
Price, M., Yuen, E. K., Goetter, E. M., Herbert, J. D., Forman, E. M., Acierno, R., & Ruggiero, K. J. (2014). mHealth: a mechanism to deliver more accessible, more effective mental health care. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 21(5), 427–436.
Rynes, S. L. (2012). 13 The Research-Practice Gap in I/O Psychology and Related Fields: Challenges and Potential Solutions. The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Psychology, Volume 1, 1, 409.
Shah, H. A., & Househ, M. (2023). Mapping loneliness through social intelligence analysis: A step towards creating global loneliness map. BMJ Health and Care Informatics, 30(1). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjhci-2022-100728
Sun, L. (2023). Social media usage and students’ social anxiety, loneliness and well-being: does digital mindfulness-based intervention effectively work? BMC Psychology, 11(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01398-7
Szekely, R., Mason, O., Frohlich, D. M., & Barley, E. A. (2024). Acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary evaluation of an animated VR game for reducing mental health stigma in health-care students and trainees: a mixed-method study. Mental Health and Digital Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1108/mhdt-03-2024-0010
van der Schyff, E. L., Ridout, B., Dip, G., Amon, K. L., Forsyth, R., Cert, G., & Campbell, A. J. (2023). Providing Self-Led Mental Health Support Through an Artificial Intelligence–Powered Chat Bot (Leora) to Meet the Demand of Mental Health Care. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.2196/46448
Vigo, D., Thornicroft, G., & Atun, R. (2016). Estimating the true global burden of mental illness. The Lancet Psychiatry, 3(2), 171–178.
Viron, M. J., & Stern, T. A. (2010). The impact of serious mental illness on health and healthcare. Psychosomatics, 51(6), 458–465.
Wathoni, R. N., & Santoso, A. S. (2023). There’s an App for That: Development of a Digital App for Mental Health Issues. Qeios.