Mental Health transformation through Digital Solutions

eMHIC Congress brings Global experts together to talk about change

Shocking statistics released by Stats NZ showed now more than a quarter of the population have poor mental well-being, with the number across many age groups up from 22% to 28% over the period 2018 to 2021.

These numbers are worse than the global statistics, with the World Health Organisation now estimating that one in eight people around the world lives with a mental health disorder.

Additionally, based on the WHO-5 Index, data shows that people aged 35 to 44 years had a lower mean mental well-being score of 14.3 out of 25, compared with 15.0 out of 25 for the total population.

The dire situation of the mental health of New Zealanders and people around the world is the subject of a meeting of International experts being held over the next couple of days in Auckland.

The solution being discussed is technology.

An unprecedented convergence of mental health experts from ten countries representing government, healthcare organisations, researchers, people with lived experience and product developers took place in Auckland, New Zealand at the 8th Annual eMental Health International Congress from 10 to 11 November 2022.

With digital mental health being the focus of the eMHIC (eMental Health International Collaborative)’ 8th Annual Congress, the two-day conference in Auckland was planned in a hybrid format to accommodate about 150 in-person attendees and thousands online.

Thirty speakers from 10 countries discussed how to scale the role of digital technologies to improve access to care and treatment in mental health to help solve the global mental health crisis. Mental Health experts from the USA, Canada, England, Scotland, Sweden, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the Philippines were part of this year’s Congress.

The use of technology has escalated in current post-COVID times with countries like New Zealand coming out of lockdown, leading to controversy over harmful or helpful effects. Critics claim that the impersonal nature of using tech decreases social skills, especially for young people. Supporters argue that digital tools increase communication and connection, with mental health experts optimistic about the increase in accessibility to personal contacts and mental health services that can decrease problems in NZ and worldwide.

“Eight years ago I recognized that the only way to adequately meet the needs of growing numbers of people requiring mental health support was to harness the power of the internet,” says eMHIC Founder and Executive Director Anil Thapliyal. “So, I founded eMHIC as a platform to offer resources, news, experts and collaboration to put those tech tools to work for positive well-being.”

[ Anil Thapliyal, Founder, eMHIC

eMHIC’s latest development supports students to learn about harnessing the internet to support mental well-being. The first partnership was with the University of Otago, and this year Columbia University Teachers College (TC) in New York City have been invited to join.

“I’m thrilled that my graduate students have this new opportunity to learn about using technology to further mental health since they are very interested in this method for the future of their careers to delivering services to people in need,” says Dr Judy Kuriansky teaches the graduate course in “Psychology at the United Nations” at TC.

Dr Kuriansky, who conducts workshops for young people worldwide, especially in low-resource remote settings post-disaster, like after an Australian earthquake, knows that youth are especially at risk.  A report from OECD showed that New Zealand’s 15-year-olds spend more time on the internet than their peers in all countries except Denmark, Sweden and Chile, namely, 42 hours a week compared to the 35-hour-per-week average; and 22 hours higher than 10 years ago.

Dr Judie Kuriansky, Columbia University Teachers College

Conference attendee Soji Victor Ladele, Innovation Manager for Mental Health and Psychosocial Wellbeing for UNICEF (the United Nations Children Fund) is concerned. “eMental and digital health have the potential to deliver transformational solutions at scale for the young people of the world,” Ladele says. “But it is critical that the ecosystem of solutions developed by providers and developers, while working to support these innovations, also remain sharply focused on new risks that are created.”

Ethics is one risk, says Christine Morgan, CEO of the National Mental Health Commission in Australia, who asserts that e-mental health is “the wave of the future” to go beyond traditional methods and medication, but requires cooperation between governments and all sectors.

Attendees at the Conference represent the government, NGOs and the private sector.  They come from Canada, Spain, Singapore, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Scotland, the US and UK.

UK psychologist Dr Julie Smith, who has 4.1 million followers on TikTok and a 1.1million followers on Instagram, says, “It’s very clear to me that social media is a very powerful way to reach the public with information about positive mental health and my goal is to change the way the public thinks about mental health, especially reducing stigma.”

The report from Stats NZ also shows that New Zealanders were lonelier in 2021 than in 2018 regardless of the amount of contact they have with others. This rise in loneliness was reported to have occurred despite increases in the proportion of people who had face-to-face contact with family at least once a week.

The voice of peers with “lived experience” either someone who has experience with a mental health condition or a friend or family member is being increasingly respected, humanising treatment.

“Do not just offer us pills and pillows or tell us we have bipolar or a chemical imbalance, but (ask) what does my life mean in terms of my life journey,” says Mary O’Hagen, Executive Director of Lived Experience in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Division of the Department of Health in Victoria, Australia. “People helped by peers with lived experience will have a better outcome. New Zealand of all the countries in the world has a better chance of getting past the psychiatric governance, partly because of the power of the indigenous people,” she adds, despite their past traumas of colonisation.

Attendees are being inspired from New Zealand, like Romulo de Castro, a Filipino biochemist, informatics expert and advocate for access to health technologies (UnEMR). “In the Philippines, we have so much to learn from the Maori,” de Castro says. “How they are taking over their cultural heritage and employing it in patient care and art, shown in their beauty rituals and connection between the people, their ancestors, and the land.”

At a day-long think tank, Martin Orr, Clinical Director at Auckland University who has studied Artificial Intelligence, warned that social media internet algorithms amplify content that users post about their psychological distress, potentially escalating these problems, including thoughts about suicide.

A British psychologist reacted that some services only respond to serious cases, causing youth to threaten suicide to get any kind of help.

Before the conference, the group of international visitors made site visits to Auckland. Experts at the Tamaki Family Health Centre with 40+ general practice and urgent care clinics from Whangarei to Christchurch treating over 4,000 patients a day, explained their commitment to integrating mental health care into primary health care and training community “family physicians”.

Also, “Just a Thought” provides free online self-guided cognitive behaviour therapy for New Zealanders to help them overcome anxiety and depression. In contrast to this more traditional approach, clinical lead Anna Elders said the new wave of mental health is self-created community-driven music videos, exemplified by the viral Māori song “25” which celebrates indigenous life on State Highway 35, and earned 12 million views on TikTok.

Similar respect for the power of indigenous dignity and esteem to facilitate wellness and healing was evident when visiting the 3-years old Tiaho Mai residential crisis service at Middlemore Hospital.

“If people are dropped off by police vans in handcuffs, we insist the handcuffs are removed, and as soon as they see the familiar carvings on the whana (house) entrance, they feel at home and calm,” says cultural support Ruby.

eMHIC Congress 2022, Auckland, New Zealand

The centre is purposefully designed – with input from people with lived experience — to create Polynesian familiarity and “mana”, including each wing named in Maori, guiding the journey to health like “from darkness to light”; wave-like bright colour shapes on the doors, a carved totem pole with fish.

Attendees from around the world are appreciating learning from each other. CEO of the National Mental Health Commission in Canada, Michele Rodrigues, eMHIC Board Member, said, “eMental Health is part of the solution to ensuring quality and culturally-appropriate mental health services where and when people need them.” He added, “This is an amazing opportunity for all of us to learn from one another and bring solutions back to our own countries.”

“It’s my joy to receive all these international and local guests for this conference and raise the profile of what New Zealand is doing to insure our people’s health,” says Thapliyal.

Credits: Dr Judy Kuriansky for sharing the story. A follow-up article about INL’s Exclusive Interaction with Dr Kuriansky to follow shortly.

Praneeta Mahajan is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Hamilton.