By Dr Lloyd Humphreys, BSc (Hons), MPhil, DClinPsych, MBA (Hons) - Head of Europe - SilverCloud Health
(Source https://healthmanagement.org/) While capacity in the health system was increased to manage COVID-19 infections, the experience for mental health was very different – services were closed and referrals fell by up to 90%. What are the lessons learnt for managing mental health services in a future pandemic and what is the role of digital technology?
Key Points
-
Mental health has had a different experience during the pandemic than services managing the COVID-19 infection – mental health services closed, referrals fell by up to 90%.
-
Data predicts a six-fold increase in mental health referrals in the wake of the pandemic, underlying the need for a tech-enabled mental health services model.
-
Scaling up of technology gets overlooked in incident planning, and the impact of this on the vulnerable not getting appropriate level of mental health care.
-
Planning is key for digital therapy technology suppliers, e.g. load testing, capacity, security and ability to scale up.
-
To avoid the ‘wild west’ of apps and digital solutions, service providers should consider scaling up across their different services and a range of mental health conditions.
-
A multi-channel approach should be used to drive awareness of solutions, with coordination between national bodies.
Read the full article on https://healthmanagement.org
