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Digital literacy in contemporary mental healthcare: online assessments and mobile health apps

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2022

Derek K. Tracy Open the ORCID record for Derek K. Tracy [Opens in a new window] ,
Romayne Gadelrab ,
Ayesha Rahim ,
Gabrielle Pendlebury Open the ORCID record for Gabrielle Pendlebury [Opens in a new window] ,
Hashim Reza ,
Rahul Bhattacharya Open the ORCID record for Rahul Bhattacharya [Opens in a new window] ,
Asif Bachlani ,
Katherine Worlley ,
David Rigby  and
Maria Heath
...Show all authors
Derek K. Tracy*
Affiliation:
Medical Director of West London NHS Trust and a senior lecturer at King's College London and University College London, UK.
Romayne Gadelrab
Affiliation:
Clinical Research Fellow at King's College London, an honorary consultant psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and co-chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ (RCPsych's) Digital Special Interest Group, London, UK.
Ayesha Rahim
Affiliation:
Perinatal psychiatrist, Chief Clinical Information Officer and Deputy Chief Medical Officer at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, Preston, UK.
Gabrielle Pendlebury
Affiliation:
Clinical Director of Psychiatric Services, Onebright, York, UK.
Hashim Reza
Affiliation:
Consultant psychiatrist at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Rahul Bhattacharya
Affiliation:
Associate Clinical Director at East London NHS Foundation Trust, Clinical Lead for New Models of Care at London Clinical Networks (NHS England) and an honorary senior clinical lecturer at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK.
Asif Bachlani
Affiliation:
Consultant psychiatrist and Clinical Director for the Priory's Acute and PICU Service Networks, the Hospital Medical Director for the Priory Hospital Woking, the RCPsych's General Adult Faculty Finance Officer, and a committee member of the RCPsych Digital Special Interest Group, UK.
Katherine Worlley
Affiliation:
Consultant psychiatrist and local college tutor at Broadmoor Hospital, Crowthorne, and electronic prescribing and medicines administration (ePMA) lead at West London NHS Trust, London, UK.
David Rigby
Affiliation:
Specialty Trainee Year 7 (ST7) in East Surrey Early Intervention in Psychosis Team, Surrey and Borders NHS Trust, Leatherhead, and co-chair of the RCPsych's Digital Special Interest Group, London, UK.
Maria Heath
Affiliation:
Patient representative on the RCPsych's Digital Special Interest Group, London, UK.
Subodh Dave
Affiliation:
Consultant psychiatrist and Deputy Director of Undergraduate Medical Education at Derbyshire Healthcare Foundation Trust, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Bolton, and Dean of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, London, UK.
*
Correspondence Derek Tracy. Email: derek.tracy@nhs.net
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Summary

‘Digital’ is an omnipresent yet often vague, misunderstood or feared topic in health services. There are many current and potential gains for individual patients and local populations, clinicians and organisations through optimisation of digital technologies. We argue that understanding the various aspects of digital psychiatry is an essential contemporary need. This is the first of two articles on the subject, exploring the gains and challenges of virtual/online assessments, including ethical considerations and the use of virtual reality and electronic prescribing.

Keywords

Digitalvirtual assessmentsonline workingvirtual realityelectronic prescribing
Type
Article
Information
BJPsych Advances , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , January 2024 , pp. 27 - 35
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists

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