It’s no great secret that England’s mental health services are facing tremendous and growing demand. It’s now widely accepted that the NHS must innovate and embrace technology to meet the very real challenges that it faces.
In fact, the NHS recently published a report – The Five Year Forward View – setting out a vision for the future in which technology and innovation have a major role. It is looking more and more likely that online interventions will play a vital part in the future of mental healthcare.
To date however, the uptake of e-health in the UK has been slow.
In Europe on the other hand, online therapy has seen enormous growth and success. Blended treatment – the combination of face-to-face conversations with online contact – is now widely used in mental health in the Netherlands, and recent research shows that therapists and clients view this use of blended treatment as a positive development.
Minddistrict is the main provider of online mental health services in the Netherlands. They have found that for the success of e-health, implementation is key. They have a wealth of experience in this area, as well as an abundance of evidence to show what works and what doesn’t. In this respect, the NHS is very fortunate; a great deal can be learnt from what has been achieved elsewhere.
Minddistrict has created a paper detailing three case studies which highlight the challenges and benefits from their successful implementation of e-health in the Netherlands.
It’s clear that technology is to play a major role in the future of healthcare delivery, and there are already examples of online tools making a real difference both here and abroad. It’s crucial that we learn from the challenges and successes of these initiatives as we move towards a more sustainable NHS.
Minddistrict recently became the second online therapy provider to join Prism: the new online therapies hub from Mayden.
Prism enables clinicians to seamlessly and securely refer appropriate patients to a range of select online therapy providers such as Minddistrict for treatment. All related progress notes and outcome data is then transmitted directly back into the patient’s NHS record. It is anticipated that Prism will greatly ease IAPT capacity issues, waiting lists and service costs, while providing patients with faster access to a wider range of treatment via established online therapy services.
