Digital mental health is here, but who is ensuring quality?

"Now more than ever, the global mental health community must look to innovative solutions to curtail the ‘second epidemic’ of mental ill-health sweeping the world.
The huge variety of solutions has created a new problem – how can one ensure the disruptive tech they are using is clinically validated, ethical and efficacious?
The Forum has partnered with Deloitte to create a set of standards to vet digital mental health solutions called the Global Governance Toolkit for Digital Mental Health.
“Despite substantial research advances showing what can be done to prevent and treat mental disorders and to promote mental health, translation into real-world effects has been painfully slow. The global burden of disease attributable to mental disorders has risen inexorably in all countries in the context of major demographic, environmental, and socio-political transitions… new opportunities should be embraced, including those offered by the innovative use of digital technologies to deliver a range of mental health interventions.”

This quote, from the Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health, sheds light on the dire state of mental healthcare throughout the world and speaks to the urgency of addressing shortcomings with no delay. Sadly, the report is not describing the world we currently inhabit under the umbra of COVID-19; it was written in 2018..." Lire la suite