Proceedings from the Digital Innovation in Mental Health Conference,London,2017

Abstract

Aims and Scope: The conference aims were two-fold: (1) to explore how digital technology is implemented into personalized and/or group mental health interventions and (2) to promote digital equality through developing culturally sensitive ways of bringing technological innovation to disadvantaged groups. A broad scope of perspectives were welcomed and encouraged, from lived experience, academic, clinical, media, the arts, policy-making, tech innovation, and other perspectives.

Many people seek mental health support in digital spaces. So how do we know what solutions will have the biggest positive impact? Can we create “digital social good” on a global scale that remains responsive to our cultural and personal needs?

In the summer of 2017, an inaugural conference called “Innovation & Strategies for Digital Interventions in Mental Health” was held in London, England; a diverse city where the traditional and the modern blend beautifully—making it a perfect backdrop for a conference fusing established methods of psychiatry with modern technology.

Innovative ways of addressing mental health needs were achieved by bringing together a diverse group of delegates, speakers, and chairs, thereby integrating knowledge across psychiatry, technology, and culture. Lecture themes covered topics such as digital psychiatry, global digital mental health, technology and methodologies, and ethics, policy, and the public sphere.

The key objectives were (1) to explore how digital technology is implemented into personalized and/or group mental health interventions and (2) to promote digital equality through developing culturally sensitive ways of bringing innovation to disadvantaged groups, including the homeless, inner-city gang members, prisoners and young offenders, perinatal mental health, residents of low- and middle-income countries, and more.

Highlights included a Keynote by Professor Vikram Patel, Pershing Square Professor of Global Health, Harvard University (USA), who took us on a journey “from fantasy to reality” scoping the digital revolution landscape and a Live Stream Q&A Event broadcasted around the world featuring guest speakers: Dr Tom Insel, President & Co-Founder, Mindstrong Health (California, USA); Sir Simon Wessely, President of the Royal Society of Medicine (London, UK); and Dr Nial Boyce, Editor, The Lancet Psychiatry (London, UK).

Delegates were challenged to debate the opportunities and pitfalls of technology-supported interventions and discuss how digital tools, algorithms, and resources might facilitate better care support. In addition, delegates were immersed in juxtaposition through playful themes and continuums exploring topics such as spoken word poetry versus natural language processing, quantitative photographic analysis versus interpreting images through the lens of a film director, unearthing narratives through modern journalism versus digital anthropology, and much more.

Several workshops and a postconference “tech for social good” hackathon focused on the theme of research with real-world implications and trying to find ways of directly benefits vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups. A further focus was dedicated to examining ways in which we can capture knowledge about culture and use this to deepen interventions and care.