PURPOSE: Deepen the appreciation of factors that promote routine use of ehealth in services for mental health and wellbeing.
E-mental health programs and services have now been used by large numbers of people, and effectiveness studies show effect sizes that are substantial and comparable to those from efficacy trials. However, acceptance and use by practitioners and the general community remain sub-optimal in many instances. Examples of successful service integration and research on dissemination of other innovations may identify critical elements for effective translation to routine care.
Panel members briefly summarise results of their effectiveness studies, of national roll-out of an online clinic (MindSpot), and use of Internet-based CBT in standard clinical services in Sweden. Preliminary research on Australia-wide integration into general practices, private Psychology services and remote Indigenous settings from the e-Mental Health in Practice project is also described.
Panel discussion examines features of programs, IT resourcing, service policies and procedures, marketing, training and supervision which promote uptake, and ways these features may be enhanced. It explores challenges that have been encountered with budgets and funding models, hardware, connectivity and culturally diverse contexts, and discusses potential solutions.
Throughout the discussion, reference is made to available research and to gaps in existing knowledge. Members engage with the audience and co-panellists to identify innovative strategies to optimise reach and personal impact in differing national and social contexts, through seamless integration with existing and emerging services.
Abstract: 0173
Fostering widespread up take of ehealth components in services for mental health and wellbeing: Discussion of key requirements, challenges and solutions
David Kavanagh1, Judy Proudfoot2, Gerhard Andersson3, Nick Titov4, Angela White1, 1Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 2Black Dog Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 3Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden, 4Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
