Blog 3 - Abbi Herrold

This week in class we discussed the barriers to access to mental health services and how e-mental health can improve access to care. In addition to this we also learned about different case studies in which e-mental health greatly improved the access and quality of care patients received. Finally, we looked at a few situations in which e-mental health may even be superior to traditional mental health services. I was really intrigued by the populations where e-mental health may be better fitted than traditional services.
For instance, I had never thought of mental health services in nursing homes prior to considering it in this chapter. I see this specific situation as having three main paths, all of which have barriers: 1) mental health services are given traditionally from an in-house specialist in the nursing home, 2) nursing home patients are transported to their appointments for mental health services at another facility, 3) nursing home patients receive mental health services by a specialist at another facility via telehealth.

In the first situation it would be very difficult for a single provider to manage all of the patients efficiently and to the best of their ability. In the second situation the barrier would be mobility, these individuals may have a more difficult time getting around and a trip to the therapists could be very physically taxing. In the third situation, it is likely that many people of this population will be unfamiliar with technology such as videoconferencing and will have to learn how to maneuver new technology and adjust to a new form of treatment. However, out of all three situations discussed option three seems much more feasible. This option would be the most cost efficient as transportation costs would not have to be provided for, and would also help to alleviate some of the duties of an in house mental health clinician.

This thought led me to search for "telehealth and aging" on YouTube to see if I could find anything related to using telehealth in nursing homes, and while I could not find anything specifically related to nursing homes or mental telehealth, I did find an example of an elderly couple using telehealth in their home. This video shows how telehealth allowed this elderly couple more autonomy over their health care, and allowed for more accessible and improved healthcare at home. I have attached the link to the video below if you are interested in viewing it.


Overall this chapter really influenced me to be more open to telehealth and to be more aware of all the different populations it can serve. As a future clinician I feel that this is something that should be discussed during the initial stages of care, perhaps as part of a cultural assessment, in order to help find a  treatment plan that would best fit the patient.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhJ58ddukdM

Blog Post 3-Amy Spear

This week, we reviewed one of the biggest benefits to E-mental health that I discussed in a previous post. This advantage is providing ease of access to treatment for patients. With conventional treatment for mental health disorders we see many barriers that prevent patients from getting proper care. I will discuss these barriers further and the impact that lack of treatment for patients with these illnesses and how it can lead to even greater issues in their lives.

As we have discussed, we can see that mental health disorders are very common within our population. Specifically, 1 in 5 adults in the US are affected by a  mental health issue of some sort. With the number of people being diagnosed with mental health disorders are rapidly increasing, it is vital that these patients receive the help that they need to treat these disorders. However, we have seen that there are many barriers that prevent patients from seeking treatment. For example, according to NAMI, almost 60% of adults with a mental illness did not seek treatment last year. This can be for many reasons. Some of the main reasons that patients do not seek medical services to treat their illness are that they could not afford the cost of treatment, they did not know where services were provided, and that they did not have time. With these barriers preventing patients from seeking quality treatment that they might desperately need, we see that they are at a higher risk of suicide, criminal actions, substance abuse, and employment issues. NAMI has reported that 90% of those who committed suicide had an untreated mental illness. Their studies have also shown that 24% of state prisoners had a recent history of a mental health disorder. As we can see, it is very important that patients diagnosed with mental illness get the care that they need to avoid further issues like these. Luckily, with the development of E-mental health these barriers will be eliminated and patients can adopt these therapies to receive the care that they really need.

http://www.nami.org/NAMI/media/NAMI-Media/Infographics/GeneralMHFacts.pdf

Blog Post 2- Amy Spear

This week we discussed the benefits and possible implications of technology use. In this modern time, we have seen great advancements in technology. We often think of the advantages of gaining more ways to utilize our technology. However, with this span of technology growing, we are also beginning to see more negative issues.

Our country has become a technologically advanced nation and we’ve adopted this technology use because of its many benefits. Technology use makes our lives easier in many ways. First, it allows simpler and faster access to all sorts of online information. Instead of taking the time to go the library and read a book about what you are seeking, you can simply search for it online and it be at your fingertips in seconds. Technology use has also significantly improved our connectivity through use of cellphones, email, video conferencing, and social media. We’ve also seen that technology usage is very cost-effective. As an aspiring healthcare provider, I know that advancements in technology have revolutionized the healthcare industry. With technology use the industry has been able to develop ways to stay connected with their providers, seek online treatment, and overall, save patients money. E-mental health is just one of the many programs developed using technology that will help us provide affordable, quality care to those everywhere. I am excited to have a career in this industry that will allow me to engage in the use of these technologies.

As college students we have become very familiar with everyday use of technology. We complete online assignments, communicate with professors via email, and even work in group settings through online portals. We spend a great deal of time using our devices. However, is it too much time? According to GoodCall.com, about 10 to 15% of college students have developed an internet addiction. This means that these students spend more than 25 hours online per week not doing school or work activities. We know how tempting it is to reach for our phone or computer every chance we get to check social media, email, or text messages. It has been shown that this excessive technology usage leads to poor sleep habits, reduced attention span, decreased focus on school work, and lack of social interactions. Therefore, it is vital that we find a healthy balance to prevent our excessive technology usage.

Although we can find many disadvantages to our technology use, I believe the benefits outweigh these negative aspects. Our nation has become adapted to new advancements being made everyday. I believe over time, these advancements will grow and help develop new technology within the healthcare industry. With this, we will have even more ways to help provide quality care to all of those in need.

Blog 2- Abbi Herrold

This week in class we briefly reviewed the benefits of technology, followed by a discussion over the potential hindrances of technology in our lives. Technology impacts us greatly in our everyday lives from being a distraction, to increased privacy concerns, to decreasing our social bonds. I thought the book did an exceptional job of highlighting the potential disadvantages of technology. One idea which stuck out to me was the idea that although technology enables us to have more free time, the extra time we are gaining is not spent freely. Since we can get things done more quickly we expect more not only of ourselves, but also of others. For instance many of our courses require deadlines of midnight because we are able to submit things online at any time of the day with just the click of the mouse, but if we didn’t have this privilege would midnight deadlines even exist, or would they just be pushed to the next day? Yes, perhaps deadlines would be pushed to the next class period, giving us a few extra hours to scramble and get an assignment done, however our assignments could also be moved to an earlier deadline of due in class with a physical copy instead of the convenient midnight deadline many of our instructors offer us due to the use of technology. Technology is a double-edged sword that can both help us and hurt us. 

As we discussed last week, technology obviously has many benefits and can make mental health services more cost effective, time effective, accessible, and adaptable. In my Introduction to Clinical Psychology class this week, we discussed all of these benefits, however we also discussed other issues that are raised by clinicians such as: How can clients find cyber therapy and how do we know such therapy is a reliable source? There is an immense amount of false advertising on the internet. So how can we ensure that patients can decipher between reliable and research-backed sources versus a faulty advertisement, which leads a patient to buy into some sort of therapy which isn’t backed or supported by actual therapists at all? As the use of technology for mental health services increases, we must also increase people’s knowledge of what accredited treatment is and what it is not. Perhaps with the increase use of technology for mental health services we must also have easily accessible guides and websites where people can search for mental health services that use primarily an e-mental health technique. As the way we provide mental health services change, we must always reconsider the way we advertise and inform patients of such services as well.

Blog One Meagan

In just one week we discussed a what e Mental Health was and some examples of eMH. I have heard very little about e Mental Health before this course. My prior knowledge before this course included the use of websites for information about mental health issues and how to help yourself or others. I have also heard about a few apps for phones that could be used to help with substance abuse issues. I only knew of these features through my internship at SAMHSA in the summer 2015. My interest in mental health and eMH grew after this internship.

The different types of eMH we discussed in class included telephone and videoconferencing, web-base interventions, interventions using mobile devices, and virtual reality. All of which can be used conveniently by the doctor and the patient. Some of the benefits we discussed in class included increase access to provide support and services, empower patients, reduce costs and an approach for patient centered healthcare to name a few. I was excited to learn about Patient Centered Healthcare (PCMH).

This week we learned that Patient Centered Healthcare or PCMH includes comprehensive care, patient centered, coordinated care, accessible, and quality and safety. We also watched videos that showed some real life examples of eMH that are being used today. I was particularly interested in what Australia as to offer.

I can already tell that this course will be very beneficial to my future career. I plan to focus on behavioral health, specifically depression, anxiety and substance abuse. I want to find ways for those who may not have the money to get treatment and as we learned in this course eMH is a very cost efficient way to give treatment. I see potential in this emerging way of treatment. I also see eMH of a way to raise awareness as well. I am looking forward to learning more in this course.

Blog Post 1- Amy Spear

In class, we defined E-mental health as “mental health services and information delivered or enhanced through the internet and related technologies.” These lectures helped me become more familiar with the concept of E-mental health since I had little prior knowledge of it. E-mental health could become the next breakthrough in healthcare considering our nation’s growing use of technology as well as an increase in mental health diagnoses.

When considering the advantages of E-mental health, we can see that with its use, E-mental health could reduce the cost of treatment while making it personalized to every patient. We could also implement treatment and tailor it to each patient's specific needs. E-mental health can also be designed to treat virtually any mental health issue. These technologically-based interventions are also cost-effective and could be very beneficial to those of lower socioeconomic status. This is very important because many mental health disorders often include high costs for therapy treatments and often require absenteeism from work.

As a prospective clinician, I believe the most beneficial advantage of E-mental health is the significantly improved accessibility to these treatments. As a healthcare professional, I believe it is important to provide quality care to those in need no matter the circumstances. With E-mental health we could provide care to those who are unable to seek conventional treatment because of hindrances such as lack of transportation, inadequate insurance coverage, or lack of child care. We could also give care to patients with mental health disorders who want to remain anonymous or fear using conventional treatment methods. Providing treatment would be available every time of day and could be used in various areas such as schools and in the workplace.

Overall, I believe that the use of E-mental health could change the way we seek treatment for mental health within the near future. Combining treatment options with technology is perfect in our time where technology is so prevalent in our everyday lives. Therefore, I am interested to learn more about E-mental health and how it will shape mental health treatment.

Blog 1 Abbi Herrold

I have found this first week of class to be very interesting since the concept of e-mental health is completely new to me. While we use technology every day for everything from checking a message, to completing our coursework, to buying our textbooks. I am still kind of awestruck by the use of technology to help aid in the treatment of mental illness. I am hesitant yet intrigued about this technological advancement. On one hand I see many benefits of e-mental health: increased access to those in rural communities and to those without reliable transportation, less stigma associated with seeking help for one's mental illness, and more time and cost effective care. I see why this works. As a patient I think it is something that I would be willing to try, but as a future clinician I feel as if I would be hesitant to provide care for a patient via a telephone or webcam. How can you be sure a video conference is truly private or would your patient be more willing to share information if they were sitting in the same room as you? I think all change brings a little unease to most people.

I feel as both patient and future clinician that a hybrid of e-mental health and traditional healthcare would be the most comfortable for me. As a patient I would be comfortable making appointments, receiving secure messages, and completing questionnaires/screenings online. I think as a patient I would be more willing to open up about my past mental health history, symptoms, etc. if I could just check a box online instead of feeling rushed in a doctor's office or waiting room. As a future clinician I think I would be comfortable communicating results and accessing files through the use of the telephone and the internet, however I don't think I would want to diagnose somebody or complete therapy sessions through the use of a telephone or video camera.These everyday things that doctors and clinicians do seem to me as if they must be done through a person to person interaction.


I am very excited to see what other advancements technology has brought or may bring to mental health throughout the course of this class. Since I am not studying public health or consumer science I have never really had to think about the best way to provide a product to a consumer. However, in my personal experiences and life goals I have always wondered what all possible resources are for those struggling with mental illness. I hope that this course will give me more insight to this and perhaps it will even spark some new ideas.

e-Mental Health

Hi everyone,

Welcome! This blog is a space for reflections on e-Mental Health by the awesome people in the e-Mental Health course at Purdue.