eMental Healthcare: Technology's Role in Mental Healthcare Delivery

This report explores the integration of technology in eMental Healthcare, emphasizing its potential to revolutionize mental health services. It discusses how technology, including mobile apps, electronic health records, and online platforms, can improve patient care, enhance communication between patients and healthcare providers, and increase access to care, particularly in remote areas. The report highlights the advantages such as reduced wait times, cost-effectiveness, and personalized treatment options. It also examines the impact of technology on nursing practices and the ethical considerations associated with its use. Furthermore, the report analyzes the current research and literature on digital technologies in mental healthcare, addressing both the opportunities and the challenges. It concludes that technology has a significant role in improving the system of healthcare for mental health conditions by integrating systems that improve the collection of clinical data and support clinical decision making.

Running head: e Mental Healthcare
E Mental Healthcare
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction:
Technology can be utilized in healthcare in order to prevent, detect, screen or to treat
diseases. eMental Health are mental health services and information that is shared or
improved using internet and related technologies like apps for phones, which can ensure the
providence of care regardless of the proximity of the patient to the care provider. In Canada,
80% of the population has accessibility to internet; however eMental Health is not used very
widely (Poushter, 2016). E Mental health provides many advantages such as shortening wait
time, reaching across time zones, improves access to healthcare in remote and rural areas,
ensuring cost effective healthcare delivery, and tailors service according to the language,
cultural as well as specific or habitual preferences of individuals (Donker et al., 2015; Abas et
al., 2016; Lal & Adair, 2014).
Discussion:
Hallgren et al. (2017) pointed out that digital technologies can improve clinical
decision making in the treatment of depression and also help in measurement based care,
integrated care and personalized medicines. The clinical decision making can be supported by
technology by 1. Developing tools that can incorporate data on depressive symptoms into
electronic health record systems. 2. Improving measurements of the fidelity of treatment. 3.
Informing the decision making using data from biosensors and smart phones. 4. Developing
tools that help in the communication and care coordination between the care provider and
patient. 5. Ensuring personalized treatment for depression through the integration of
electronic health records. These aspects show that technology can significantly improve the
efficacy of mental health treatments. These tools can also ensure an efficient, effective and
usable frontline treatment for patients, and can be utilized by the nurses to ensure better care
for patients (Aboujaoude & Starcevic, 2015; Torous & Roux, 2017; Hollis et al., 2015).

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Jorm et al. (2013) suggested that internet and related technologies have created a new
aspect which was utilized by mental healthcare, especially in Australia. The authors proposed
that the technological developments can transform mental healthcare and provide
opportunities for clinical practice as well as on research on mental health. Additionally, the
technologies can also provide opportunities for consumer empowerment and integrate
information to health systems. However, there are also certain emerging issues that have been
identified, and needs to be dealt with (Yuksel et al., 2016). These issues includes the need for
further evaluation of eHealth systems, need for new models of funding and ethical regulatory
frameworks. Technology also poses certain concerns in healthcare such as satisfying the need
for human care (which technology cannot provide fully) and ensuring social equality (as the
service can only cater to individuals with internet connectivity) (Piwek et al., 2016). This
highlights the fact that even though technology can be beneficial to mental healthcare, it still
has certain important concerns that should be addressed and focused on to ensure that
utilization of these technologies do not result in unequal distribution of care.
Technologies can significantly impact nursing practice and profession. Advances in
technology have ensured safety for both patients and their families, and new equipments have
improved the efficiency of care (Weaver et al., 2016). In nursing profession, technology has
also provided some key advantages such as: 1. Better communication between the nurse and
patients, through the usage of electronic health records that is updated with patient details.
The patient can also contact the nurses more easily, and the nurse can share information with
the patients faster through the use of technology. 2. It can help to improve the practice
presence of the nurse by ensuring that all the necessary data is available for treatment or
therapy. 3. Improving the positive approach towards treatment, instead of focusing on the
negative aspects (such as distraction due to technology) and developing strategies where

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errors in medical decision can be identified and rectified using technology (Kvedar et al.,
2014; Lee et al., 2015).
Thompson et al. (2018) studied whether digital technologies should be used to treat
psychotic disorders. The Authors assessed the use of technologies such as online treatments,
mobile apps, short messaging services, experience sampling methods, therapeutic games,
virtual therapies and augmented realities. The authors found that the assumption that
individual suffering from mental health conditions are less likely to use technology to be
untrue, and pointed out that individuals suffering from such conditions are more likely to
engage in technological interventions. This was exhibited by high rate of ownership of
mobile phones, usage of mobile health interventions, and social media habits, which are
similar to that of their peers (Kannisto et al., 2017). This shows that the technological
advances can be utilized by the nurses to help individuals suffering from mental health
conditions and thus improve their treatment.
Christensen and Petrie (2013) suggested that information technology is the key to
accelerate the advances in mental healthcare. Through the use of technology, healthcare
providers and nurses can easily disseminate information from researches and accelerate
discoveries in healthcare, thereby developing newer strategies of mental health care. It can
also create new roles in the healthcare workforce, such as the ‘online barefoot psychologists’
who can provide easily accessible diagnosis for mental health conditions and ‘knowledge
brokers’ who can explain the clinical information to the patients with low literacy. A nurse
can be engaged in these aspects, helping the patient in the assessment of their mental health
as well as educating the patients or their families on care strategies (Lustgarten & Elhai,
2018; Glick et al., 2016).
Conclusion:

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It can thus be concluded that technology can significantly improve the system of
healthcare for mental health conditions, integrating systems that improve the collection of
clinical data and support clinical decision making. Technology can also help to develop
communication between the patient and the healthcare team, and improve accessibility of
care for the patients, regardless of the location of the patient (distance or remoteness). Nurses
can use such technological advances to ensure better care which can be availed to anyone
with internet connectivity.

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