A University of Limerick hosted event has focused on the development of a new national digital mental health strategy.
Held in collaboration with the Health Service Executive (HSE), ‘An Introduction to the Digital Mental Health Strategy’, brought together researchers, clinicians, and policymakers to discuss the latest advancements in digital mental health.
HSE CEO Mr Bernard Gloster officially opened the conference with several Department of Health staff also in attendance on the day. Professor Deirdre McGrath, interim Executive Dean of UL’s Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, and Professor Eric Igou, Head of UL’s Department of Psychology were also in attendance.
UL’s Dr Ruth Melia, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology, outlined the approach for developing a shared vision for digital mental health with key stakeholders in Ireland.
In 2023, Dr Melia was appointed to the National Digital Mental Health Specialist Group, this was established under Sharing the Vision, Ireland's national mental health policy. The group was tasked with addressing key requirements, specific to digital mental health, set out in Sharing the Vision.
“Digital mental health is any technology-enabled provision of mental health assessment, prevention, services and supports. Research has established that digital mental health can help overcome important barriers to accessing mental health support, such as stigma and geographical location,” explained Dr Melia.
Dr Melia’s research at UL combined with her clinical experience, directly inform her ongoing work with the HSE.
“It has been a privilege to have been able to draw on our programme of research here at UL to inform policy directly. The progress in the broader digital for care landscape in the last year alone has been incredible,” said Dr Melia.
At the conference, Professor Pepijn Van de Ven of UL’s Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering presented the university’s digital mental health research. This research has been conducted over the last 15 years in collaboration with some of the leading research groups worldwide.
“Of particular interest to the Irish Digital Mental Health strategy are projects such as the Personae project for which UL provides advanced data analytics input,” explained Professor Van de Ven.
Professor Van de Ven is working with UL researchers and a consortium of Danish partners on the Personae project, which is funded by the Innovation Fund Denmark. The project aims to personalise online mental health services, to provide easier access to digital treatments for patients with depression.
“This project may well be an excellent blueprint for future Irish digital mental health services,” Professor Van de Ven added.
Derek Chambers, Policy Implementation Lead, HSE Mental Health said: “This year’s event was an opportunity to showcase some of the many important developments in digital mental health in recent times.
“We look forward to building on the work done to date and look forward to progressing the new HSE Digital Mental Health Strategy in the spirit of collaboration and partnership,” added Mr Chambers.