The COVID-19 crisis has catapulted digital mental health into the mainstream. It has led to a substantial increase of investment in digital mental health (e-mental health). In the first 6 months of 2020 digital health companies in the US raised $5.5 billion in venture funding (on track to become its largest funding year ever). There is increasingly more focus on behavioural health technology and its promise to deliver fast, seamless care at a time when usual treatment modalities are difficult to access. However, the question: why are so few e-mental health tools evidence-based must still be addressed. Mobihealthnews has published an interesting article about this complex topic, which is also core element of the eMEN project. Read More
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, eMEN partners Thmoas More and Pulso Europe were not able to organise a survey and focus group in the Walloon psychiatric hospital Le Beau Vallon during the first period of the project. On September 15th it was possible to organise a focus group meeting in Namur in completely safe and corona-proof circumstances. Read More
The recently published Deloitte Global Millennial Survey (2020) shows that mental health problems are a serious challenge for millenials (people born between 1980s and early 2000s) and Gen Z (people born between late 1990s and early 2010s). This survey, which was conducted both before and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, reveals that even before the pandemic, a large number of millennial and Gen Z workers were frequently suffering from stress and anxiety – common factors that contribute to mental health. Millennials and Gen Zs together account for most of the global workforce. Their mental health issues present an enormous challenge for employers around the world. Read More
The World Economic Forum posted two interesting articles about how technology can help with managing the mental health fallout of the COVID-19 crisis. As the pandemic wears on, mental health challenges mount up. Meeting the increasing demand for mental health services as a result of the pandemic will not be possible using traditional methods. Read More
Most people who experience a potentially traumatic event (PTE) recover on their own. A small group of
individuals develops psychological complaints but is often not detected in time or guidance to care is suboptimal. To identify
these individuals and encourage them to seek help, a web-based self-help test called MIRROR– Mobile Insight in Risk,
Resilience and Online Referral – was developed. The eMEN project made it possible to validate the MIRROR, so that there is now a validated assessment tool to be used for online self help. Read More
Between May 2016 and May 2020 the 10 eMEN partners from 6 EU partner countries in North-West-Europe have successfully cooperated in order to promote the implementation of e-mental health technology. They have documented their main achievements and reflections in a final report. Read More
Since 2014, the Interreg North-West Europe Programme supports outstanding ideas that have already made a difference for local communities throughout the area. Our role is to reduce these differences by supporting cooperation across the borders of eight European countries and tackle common challenges in the area. Read More
It is time to place e-mental health (eMH) at the heart of national and European health strategies and policies to facilitate a structured approach for eMH implementation. This holds true in particular in times of global crisis like the present Covid-19 pandemic with physical distancing, societal lock-down, economic break-down, and psychosocial derangement. Read More
At the turn of this month, eMEN will publish the Transnational Policy for e-Mental Health - a guidance document for European policymakers and stakeholders here on it's website. Read More
Dr. Josef Ruzek has written an interesting article in Psychiatric Times about disaster response, mental health and community resilience. Please find below some excerpts of this article (which was published on January 27th 2020):
“The increase in repeated disasters and associated social stressors linked to global warming is likely to affect the mental wellbeing of billions of persons in the 21st century, increasing risk for depression, anxiety, PTSD, anger and violence, social disruption and displacement, and social conflict. This means that our current conceptual frame of disaster response will be too narrow to address the many problems created and exacerbated by climate change...” Read More
