Review of Mobile Health Technology for Military Mental Health

Abstract

Mental health problems pose challenges for military veterans, returning service members, and military family members including spouses and children. Challenges to meeting mental health needs include improving access to care and improving quality of care. Mobile Health, or "mHealth," can help meet these needs in the garrison and civilian environments. mHealth brings unique capabilities to health care provision through the use of mobile device technologies. This report identifies high-priority mHealth technology development considerations in two categories. First, priority considerations specific to mental health care provision include safety, privacy, evidence-based practice, efficacy studies, and temperament. Second, priority considerations broadly applicable to mHealth include security, outcomes, ease of use, carrier compliance, hardware, provider perspectives, data volume, population, regulation, command policy, and reimbursement. Strategic planning for the advancement of these priority considerations should be coordinated with stated Department of Defense capability needs to maximize likelihood of adoption. This report also summarizes three leading, military programs focused on mHealth projects in mental health, The Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, The Military Operational Medicine Research Program, United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, and The National Center for Telehealth and Technology.

Interprofessional Collaboration and Telehealth: Useful Strategies for Family Counselors in Rural and Underserved Areas

“…Telehealth, conceptualized as a strategy to help people achieve self-actualization through increasing access to services to help them in meeting physiological and psychological needs, is novel and feasible. Along with telehealth as a strategy to increase access, family counselors and other mental health practitioners have used telehealth to provide counseling services to improve access and quality of care (Shore et al, 2014). More specifically, telehealth is used for rural communities to increase the provision of behavioral and mental health services (Hughes et al, 2019; M.…”

The Deployment Life Study: Longitudinal Analysis of Military Families Across the Deployment Cycle

“…Longitudinal data have a lot to offer researchers, but they are time-consuming to collect and results are often not known until several months or even years after the respondents have provided their data. Future research may be strengthened by continuing efforts to use smartphone applications with military families (for a review, see Shore et al, 2014). Having a real-time source of data that is capable of tracking changes in the historical, political, and social climates would provide a huge benefit to researchers and policymakers who seek to help families navigate the stress associated with military life.…”

New Frontiers in Healthcare and Technology: Internet-and Web-Based Mental Options Emerge to Complement In-Person and Telepsychiatric Care Options

“…This is concerning, though, if these things are not shared with parents and/or professionals. Anxiety (phobias or panic disorder) or trauma (e.g., military personnel with PTSD) patients may be avoided [46]. Common prejudice is that psychotic patients are not eligible for remote consultations and that they do not use of technology, in general.…”