Debate: Supporting the mental health of school students in the COVID‐19 pandemic in New Zealand – a digital ecosystem approach

Merry, Sally; Cargo, Tania; Christie, Grant; Donkin, Liesje; Hetrick, Sarah; Fleming, Theresa; Holt‐Quick, Chester; Hopkins, Sarah; Stasiak, Karolina; Warren, Jim

doi:10.1111/camh.12429

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…With nearly all young people using the internet ( 1 , 22 ), research interest in digital mental health interventions has accelerated in response to their mental health needs and preferences, particularly since the pandemic ( 8 , 23 ). Digital technologies including telehealth, internet, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, smartphones, and videogames ( 24 – 28 ) have been evaluated, showing comparable effectiveness among them ( 26 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gaming My Way to Recovery: A Systematic Scoping Review of Digital Game Interventions for Young People's Mental Health Treatment and Promotion

Ferrari

Sabetti

McIlwaine

et al. 2022

Front. Digit. Health

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Nearly all young people use the internet daily. Many youth with mental health concerns, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, are using this route to seek help, whether through digital mental health treatment, illness prevention tools, or supports for mental wellbeing. Videogames also have wide appeal among young people, including those who receive mental health services. This review identifies the literature on videogame interventions for young people, ages 12-29, and maps the data on game use by those with mental health and substance use problems, focusing on evidence for the capacity of games to support treatment in youth mental health services; how stakeholders are involved in developing or evaluating games; and any potential harms and ethical remedies identified. A systematic scoping review methodology was used to identify and assess relevant studies. A search of multiple databases identified a total of 8,733 articles. They were screened, and 49 studies testing 32 digital games retained. An adapted stepped care model, including four levels, or steps, based on illness manifestation and severity, was used as a conceptual framework for organizing target populations, mental health conditions and corresponding digital games, and study results. The 49 selected studies included: 10 studies (20.4%) on mental health promotion/prevention or education for undiagnosed youth (Step 0: 7 games); 6 studies (12.2%) on at-risk groups or suspected mental problems (Step 1: 5 games); 24 studies (49.0%) on mild to moderate mental conditions (Steps 2-3: 16 games); and 9 studies (18.4%) focused on severe and complex mental conditions (Step 4: 7 games). Two interventions were played by youth at more than one level of illness severity: the SPARX game (Steps 1, 2-3, 4) and Dojo (Steps 2-3 and 4), bringing the total game count to 35 with these repetitions. Findings support the potential integration of digital games in youth services based on study outcomes, user satisfaction, relatively high program retention rates and the potential usefulness of most games for mental health treatment or promotion/prevention. Most studies included stakeholder feedback, and involvement ratings were very high for seven games. Potential harms were not addressed in this body of research. This review provides an important initial repository and evaluation of videogames for use in clinical settings concerned with youth mental health.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gaming My Way to Recovery: A Systematic Scoping Review of Digital Game Interventions for Young People's Mental Health Treatment and Promotion

Ferrari

Sabetti

McIlwaine

et al. 2022

Front. Digit. Health

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“…Through data being stored online, it was identified how technologies such as apps can enable multiple teams, for example healthcare services at schools, to access the same server and hence access the same information. This was described by Merry and colleagues ( 2020 ) who detailed an app that could be flexibly developed to meet the changing needs of young people, for example, through providing pandemic-oriented support. Evidence suggests that having a clinically governed approach to information sharing resources can be advantageous within settings where there could be multiple systems.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction of Technology to Support Young People’s Care and Mental Health—A Rapid Evidence Review

Ramshaw

McKeown

Lee

et al. 2022

Child Youth Care Forum

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Background Technology and its use within mental health services has advanced dramatically over recent years. Opportunities for mental health services to utilise technology to introduce novel, effective, and more efficient means of delivering assessment, and treatment are increasing. Objective The current rapid-evidence paper reviews evidence regarding the introduction of novel technology to support young people’s mental health and psychological well-being. Methods A rapid evidence review was conducted. PSYCHINFO and CINAHL were searched for research articles between 2016 and 2021 that were specific to young people, mental health, and technology developments within this domain. N = 27 studies which explored the introduction, feasibility, and value of technology for mental health purposes were included in a narrative synthesis. Quality or risk of bias analyses were not completed. Results Overall, technological advancements in young people’s care were considered positive and engaging for young people. Factors including resources, efficiency of care, engagement, therapeutic effectiveness, ethical considerations, therapeutic alliance, and flexibility were considered within this review. Nevertheless, potential barriers include clinician concerns, socioeconomic factors, and motivation. Conclusion Effective and sustained use of technology within young people’s mental health services will depend on the technology’s usability, efficiency, and ability to engage young people. This paper expands on existing research by reviewing a broader range of technology proposed to support young people’s mental health and well-being. This will assist in the application of novel technological advancements by indicating effectiveness, preferences, potential barriers, and recommendations for the feasibility and efficacy of introducing technology into young people’s services.

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“…During the pandemic, the demand for online teaching and the uncertainty of the pandemic aggravated students’ mental health problems. Integrating the digital ecosystem of the school and the medical system through digital Technologies enables schools to directly intervene students and parents through specific evidence-based interventions [ 123 ]. In addition, during the blockade, online media and other services reduced some harmful effects, such as loneliness, mental stress and other problems [ 124 ].…”

Section: Bibliometric Analysis Of Digital Medical Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating Digital Technologies and Public Health to Fight Covid-19 Pandemic: Key Technologies, Applications, Challenges and Outlook of Digital Healthcare

Wang

Zhang

et al. 2021

IJERPH

134

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Integration of digital technologies and public health (or digital healthcare) helps us to fight the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which is the biggest public health crisis humanity has faced since the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. In order to better understand the digital healthcare, this work conducted a systematic and comprehensive review of digital healthcare, with the purpose of helping us combat the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper covers the background information and research overview of digital healthcare, summarizes its applications and challenges in the COVID-19 pandemic, and finally puts forward the prospects of digital healthcare. First, main concepts, key development processes, and common application scenarios of integrating digital technologies and digital healthcare were offered in the part of background information. Second, the bibliometric techniques were used to analyze the research output, geographic distribution, discipline distribution, collaboration network, and hot topics of digital healthcare before and after COVID-19 pandemic. We found that the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly accelerated research on the integration of digital technologies and healthcare. Third, application cases of China, EU and U.S using digital technologies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic were collected and analyzed. Among these digital technologies, big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, 5G are most effective weapons to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications cases show that these technologies play an irreplaceable role in controlling the spread of the COVID-19. By comparing the application cases in these three regions, we contend that the key to China’s success in avoiding the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic is to integrate digital technologies and public health on a large scale without hesitation. Fourth, the application challenges of digital technologies in the public health field are summarized. These challenges mainly come from four aspects: data delays, data fragmentation, privacy security, and data security vulnerabilities. Finally, this study provides the future application prospects of digital healthcare. In addition, we also provide policy recommendations for other countries that use digital technology to combat COVID-19.

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Debate: Supporting the mental health of school students in the COVID‐19 pandemic in New Zealand – a digital ecosystem approach

Abstract: allowing for agile development and upgrades as new interventions emerge and technology changes. An implementation trial of the HABITs ecosystem in schools is underway, but in the meantime, it has been

Cited by 15 publications

References 7 publications

Gaming My Way to Recovery: A Systematic Scoping Review of Digital Game Interventions for Young People's Mental Health Treatment and Promotion

Gaming My Way to Recovery: A Systematic Scoping Review of Digital Game Interventions for Young People's Mental Health Treatment and Promotion

Introduction of Technology to Support Young People’s Care and Mental Health—A Rapid Evidence Review

Integrating Digital Technologies and Public Health to Fight Covid-19 Pandemic: Key Technologies, Applications, Challenges and Outlook of Digital Healthcare

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