Elsevier

General Hospital Psychiatry

Volume 35, Issue 4, July–August 2013, Pages 332-338
General Hospital Psychiatry

Special Section: Health Information Technology and Mental Health Services Research: A Path Forward
Behavioral Intervention Technologies: Evidence review and recommendations for future research in mental health

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2013.03.008Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Abstract

Objective

A technical expert panel convened by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the National Institute of Mental Health was charged with reviewing the state of research on behavioral intervention technologies (BITs) in mental health and identifying the top research priorities. BITs refers to behavioral and psychological interventions that use information and communication technology features to address behavioral and mental health outcomes.

Method

This study on the findings of the technical expert panel.

Results

Videoconferencing and standard telephone technologies to deliver psychotherapy have been well validated. Web-based interventions have shown efficacy across a broad range of mental health outcomes. Social media such as online support groups have produced disappointing outcomes when used alone. Mobile technologies have received limited attention for mental health outcomes. Virtual reality has shown good efficacy for anxiety and pediatric disorders. Serious gaming has received little work in mental health.

Conclusion

Research focused on understanding reach, adherence, barriers and cost is recommended. Improvements in the collection, storage, analysis and visualization of big data will be required. New theoretical models and evaluation strategies will be required. Finally, for BITs to have a public health impact, research on implementation and application to prevention is required.

Keywords

Telemedicine
eHealth
mHealth
Psychology
Psychiatry
Informatics

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