Mental Health A Person-centred Approach

Introduction

This chapter introduces students in the health professions to a new and developing area of mental health practice: e-mental health. It describes a range of digital interventions and explores how digital and mobile technologies are providing additional avenues for helping people with mental health problems in densely populated and hard-to-reach communities. It is important for practitioners to acquire and develop proficient digital literacy skills in the e-mental health service sector. Some types of digital and mobile interventions are considered, along with some of the benefits and limitations that relate to e-mental health in general. As emerging health care professionals, students increasingly will be expected to utilise e-health interventions and strategies in the delivery of health care. The chapter introduces the e-mental health environment in general, and helps students to develop the knowledge and skills needed to implement person-centred e-mental health care to individuals and populations.

Readers will have noticed a change in the appearance of the start of this chapter. It includes the author's professional social media handles (names) and identities, because they are relevant to the content of the chapter and the evolving nature of conversations among mental health professionals in social media. Readers are invited to visit these sites to learn more about how mental health professionals are using social media within the context of the Web 2 environment, which includes social media.

What is e-mental health?

e-Mental health, and using communications technologies in health care service delivery more broadly, is not a new idea. e-Mental health has been around for the past 50 years, in a more rudimentary sense through the use of two-way UHF (ultra-high frequency) radio and landline telephones. The idea of supporting people in need of health care advice and/ or treatment, and their families, by using communications technologies is well established. Telephone services in mental health have been routinely used for many years, but in recent times the use of e-mental health has snowballed and now includes a wide range of electronic and digital technologies that enable mental health promotion, support for people and carers, early intervention and longer-term digital treatments in both stand-alone and blended care formats.