J. Indian Assoc. Child Adolesc. Ment. Health 2015; 11(2): Editorial

Transcription

1 J. Indian Assoc. Child Adolesc. Ment. Health 2015; 11(2):94-98 Editorial Mobile app in psychiatric disorders of children and adolescents: Scope in resource poor settings Vivek Agarwal MD, Sujit Kar MD Address for correspondence: Dr. Vivek Agarwal, Editor JIACAM & Professor, Department of Psychiatry, King George s Medical University, Lucknow. drvivekagarwal06@gmail.com 94 In Western countries, use of mobile phone based application in health sectors has been increased in the recent years [1, 2]. Mostly the chronic medical illnesses were focused through mobile applications [2]. However, this application was not successfully replicated in psychiatry [2]. So far the need in mental health is concerned; there is a gross disparity between the demand and availability of mental health services for nearly 85% of global population [3]. Large budget allocation, huge manpower training and a lot of commitment is required to fill this mental health gap. Use of mobile applications in mental health service may facilitate in filling the gap in a cost effective way in a manpower scarce situation [3]. Some unique features related to psychiatric disorders, make mobile apps a more valuable tool for therapeutic application. In psychiatric disorders, treatment non-adherence and missing the follow ups are major issues, which can be effectively dealt through reminders text messages [3]. Psychoeducation, and general information regarding mental health can also be availed through mobile apps. And also the psychotherapeutic interventions, which are based on dialogues or monologues, are compatible with the mobile apps [3]. Jones et

2 95 al, in their review How Google's 'ten Things We Know To Be True' could guide the development of mental health mobile apps mentioned the utility of Google s way of narrating facts in an interesting and effective way in mental health [3]. Psychiatric illnesses in children and adolescents are not uncommon, but there is scarcity of mental health professionals in most developing and even in many developed countries. Many childhood psychiatric disorders need integrated approach for the holistic management, however specially trained manpower like special trainer or educator as well as rehabilitation experts are not available in most places. Hence, holistic mental health care is provided by only very few centers, which is not sufficient enough to meet the needs of population at large. Children and adolescents with autistic spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperkinetic disorder, specific learning disorder and intellectual disability need long follow ups with interdisciplinary collaboration. Mobile apps can facilitate in providing general information related to illness, reminder for appointment, monitoring of the symptoms, online guidance for behavioral intervention, self regulation as well as resources for training care providers [3]. Mobile apps also being developed to facilitate for video conferencing for therapeutic intervention, which can provide mental health services at door step in a manpower scarce setting [4]. Several group of patients, which frequently found it difficult for face to face interaction (eg: those with social anxiety disorder, autism) will by-pass the direct interaction process, hence will find it more friendly [4, 5]. De Leo et al, had developed a mobile software for children with autism, through which they can communicate with others by using picture symbols [6]. Vismara et al in their

3 96 pilot study found that online video conferencing mediated assistance to parents of children with autism as an effective intervention [7]. Mobile apps technologies (individualized stereotypy treatment integrated module) are also developed to control the stereotyped behavior in children with autism [8]. Adolescence is the period in which individuals become more inquisitive and try to explore information. Mobile apps help adolescents in this venture. This age is the common age of onset of many psychiatric illnesses, hence mental health related mobile apps will be helpful for them for awareness, early detection and also guide about intervention [9]. There is need to develop more therapeutic mobile applications which the parents can access easily and use in the training of the children with autism or learning disorders where training is time intensive and long term. Enabling mental health care facilities through mobile apps will help in making the mental health care accessible for everyone at an affordable price in resource poor settings. Mental health related mobile apps can be helpful in filling the mental health gap. References 1. Health D:Building Telecare in England Palmier-Claus JE, Rogers A, Ainsworth J, Machin M, Barrowclough C, Laverty L, Barkus E, Kapur S, Wykes T, Lewis SW. Integrating mobile-phone based assessment for psychosis into people's everyday lives and clinical care: a qualitative study. BMC Psychiatry Jan 23;13:34.

4 97 3. Jones SP, Patel V, Saxena S, Radcliffe N, Ali Al-Marri S, Darzi A. How Google's 'ten Things We Know To Be True' could guide the development of mental health mobile apps. Health Aff (Millwood) Sep;33(9): Chan SR, Torous J, Hinton L, Yellowlees P. Mobile Tele-Mental Health: Increasing Applications and a Move to Hybrid Models of Care. Healthcare 2014, 2(2), Pakyurek, M.; Yellowlees, P.; Hilty, D. The child and adolescent telepsychiatry consultation: Can it be a more effective clinical process for certain patients than conventional practice? Telemed. E Health 2010, 16, De Leo G, Gonzales CH, Battagiri P, Leroy G. A smart-phone application and a companion website for the improvement of the communication skills of children with autism: clinical rationale, technical development and preliminary results. J Med Syst Aug;35(4): Vismara LA, McCormick C, Young GS, Nadhan A, Monlux K. Preliminary findings of a telehealth approach to parent training in autism. J Autism Dev Disord Dec;43(12): Lanovaz M. Using Mobile Technology to Reduce Stereotypy. Université de Montréal. [Last assessed on ].

5 9. Seko Y, Kidd S, Wiljer D, McKenzie K. Youth mental health interventions via mobile phones: a scoping review. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw Sep;17(9): Vivek Agarwal, Editor JIACAM & Professor, Sujit Kar, Lecturer, Department of Psychiatry, King George s Medical University, Lucknow. 98