Digital technology for treating and preventing mental disorders in low-income and middle-income countries: a narrative review of the literature

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Lancet Psychiatry
• Personal Author:
  Naslund, John A ; Aschbrenner, Kelly A ; Araya, Ricardo ; Marsch, Lisa A ; Unützer, Jürgen ; Patel, Vikram ; Bartels, Stephen J
• Description:
  Few individuals living with mental disorders around the globe have access to mental health care, yet most have access to a mobile phone. Digital technology holds promise for improving access to, and quality of, mental health care. We reviewed evidence on the use of mobile, online, and other remote technologies for treatment and prevention of mental disorders in low-income and middle-income countries. Of the 49 studies identified, most were preliminary evaluations of feasibility and acceptability. The findings were promising, showing the potential effectiveness of online, text-messaging, and telephone support interventions. We summarised the evaluations as: technology for supporting clinical care and educating health workers, mobile tools for facilitating diagnosis and detection of mental disorders, technologies for promoting treatment adherence and supporting recovery, online self-help programmes for individuals with mental disorders, and programmes for substance misuse prevention and treatment. Continued research is needed to rigorously evaluate effectiveness, assess costs, and carefully consider potential risks of digital technology interventions for mental disorders, while determining how emerging technologies might support the scale-up of mental health treatment and prevention efforts across low-resource settings.
• Subjects:
  Cell Phone Community Health Workers Delivery Of Health Care Developing Countries Feasibility Studies Female Humans Income Male Mental Disorders Poverty Text Messaging

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• Source:
  Lancet Psychiatry. 4(6):486-500
• Pubmed ID:
  28433615
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5523650
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  P30 DA029926/DA/NIDA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R01 MH104555/MH/NIMH NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U19 MH109988/MH/NIMH NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U48 DP005018/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  4
• Issue:
  6
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:37ead58600052f52a39273928e716db7806f7ca9ad24dce79d7d2d0712797463
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/46886/cdc_46886_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 611.46 KB ]