introduce
Adolescent Mental Health Intervention
Using digital interventions to monitor the mental health of older adults
Technology interventions in the context of social work
Harm of technology-based interventions
refer to
Further reading
Mental health disorders are becoming more frequent in the general population. Mental health disorders are largely linked to increased life expectancy and end-of-life diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Alzheimer’s, with more than 15% of people over the age of 60 suffering from some form of mental disorder.
Technological devices such as cell phones, computers, and the internet can provide digital interventions for a variety of mental health-related issues, provide regular points of contact with professionals, remind patients to take their medications, and offer brain training exercises that can help relieve symptoms. Various mental health disorders.
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Digital interventions show great promise for many mental health disorders. However, generation gaps in technology use can leave those most in need of mental health interventions (i.e. older adults) vulnerable.
This article will discuss some of the technology-based tools available to physicians in tracking symptom expression and behavioral changes, drug response, and disease progression in mental health disorders, as well as tools that may be used directly as therapeutic agents.
Adolescent Mental Health Intervention
College students are at high risk for psychological problems such as anxiety, depression and stress due to academic and social pressures. Although most universities offer students various forms of assistance, students may need to seek additional assistance.Technology interventions can provide a passive outlet for people with mental illness to seek help pass A more cautious route than traditional therapy.
Young people often choose the online option when seeking healthcare advice. Online counseling can be an excellent initial method of mental health triage, where more severe cases can be referred to more traditional mental health services.
There are significant financial incentives for widespread adoption of such mental health triage centers, which could improve the detection and treatment of mental health disorders and simplify existing mental health services, freeing up clinics and directing patients to where they can receive the most appropriate help. The place.
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Using digital interventions to monitor the mental health of older adults
While technology-based mental health interventions have been shown to help promote patient adherence and reporting, a large proportion of people with mental health disorders rarely engage in online activities and do not regularly use devices such as tablets or smartphones . For example, a survey of people over the age of 65 in the United States showed that only 67% had access to the Internet, while in 16 EU countries, the proportion of people over the age of 50 fell to just 49%.
The reasons why older people are not adopting new technologies are related to several factors: Retirees don’t need new devices for their jobs, so they don’t buy or use them often; as they get older, learning new things becomes more difficult, perhaps intimidating Those with only a passing interest, and the less socialized technology of the older generation, inhibits its uptake.
Even so, where adequate training and teaching are provided to older adults on the use of technology-based mental health interventions, the program has had great success in promoting participation. Unsurprisingly, older adults education and mental health are based solely on Tried interventions online showed poor engagement. The advantages of digital health interventions for older adults can be huge, avoiding travel and providing regular mental health care to people in remote communities.
In addition to virtual consultations, simple technical assistance in the form of reminders and alerts is invaluable to older adults and can facilitate good medication and lifestyle management. Apps specifically designed for these tasks have advantages over mock lists or annotations because technology can be used to document compliance. For example, the app can record a short video of a patient taking a medication to remind them when they last took their prescription, so doctors can rest assured when changing doses.
Related: How does social media affect mental health?
Technology interventions in the context of social work
Technology-based interventions are increasingly being used in social work settings to improve patient status and compliance monitoring. Many of the benefits already discussed can be applied to those receiving social service assistance, especially enhanced opportunities for remote communication.
However, technological interventions may also be applied in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. For example, cognitive training exercises delivered via a computer or smartphone show great promise in alleviating cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients, with clinical evidence of improved blood flow to the brain.
Likewise, virtual reality and other interactive experiences have successfully treated depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and several other psychological conditions as a non-pharmacological intervention that can be applied and monitored by social workers.
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Harm of technology-based interventions
A variety of potential harms and concerns emerged around each discussion of the advantages of using technology-based mental health interventions, mostly regarding data protection. Data must be stored or transmitted securely and without risk of interception. In addition to the immediate risk of identity fraud in the event of a data breach, even the continuous and passive collection of data considered non-identifying must be carefully monitored. For example, marketing companies can use data secretly submitted by users to plan demographically-targeted ads, or government organizations can use the data to draft policies to segregate segments of the population.
Since therapeutic digital mental health interventions such as virtual reality software or specialized video games have shown efficacy in alleviating a variety of mental health disorders, it is conceivable that poorly designed examples could compromise patient health and ultimately lead to a decline in mental health or otherwise Proper recovery will stop.
Given this, given the requirement for continuous and unrestricted access to therapy software, such treatment options must be thoroughly investigated in terms of short- and long-term efficacy.
While online resources can be very useful in providing help and advice to people with mental health issues, the potential unreliability of generic websites or social media platforms poses a potentially fatal danger where incorrect but well-meaning or intentionally malicious advice is treated equally Treat empirically proven and thoroughly researched science.
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refer to
- Seifert, A., Reinwand, DA and Schlomann, A. (2019). Designing and using digital mental health interventions for older adults: Awareness of digital inequality. Frontiers in Psychiatry. Doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00568 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00568/full
- Borle, P., Boerner-Zobel, F., Voelter-Mahlknecht, S., Hasselhorn, HM and Ebener, M. (2021). Social and health implications of digital work intensification. Associations between exposure to ICT, health, and work ability across socioeconomic classes. International Occupational and Environmental Health Archives. Doi: 10.1007/s00420-020-01588-5 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33084928/
- Ramsay, AT and Montgomery, K. (2014). Technology-based interventions in social work practice: A systematic review of mental health interventions. Healthcare Social Work. Doi: 10.1080/00981389.2014.925531 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25321935/
- Beishon, L., Evley, R., Panerai, RB, et al. (2019). Effects of brain training on cerebral blood flow (Cognitive and Flow Research – CogFlowS): A randomized controlled trial protocol for the feasibility of cognitive training in dementia. BMJ Open. Doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-027817 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31122994/