1. Mental health and technology
Dr Eva Cyhlarova Elise Leclerc
Head of Research Communications
and Involvement
Manager
2. We all have mental health!
• Think about MH as a continuum
• People with mental health diagnoses are just people
• There is usually not a quick fix
• Be aware of stigma
• 1. problems of knowledge (ignorance)
• 2. problems of attitudes (prejudice)
• 3. problems of behaviour (discrimination)
• Need to change behaviour, not just attitudes
• E.g. talking therapies, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
(CBT, c-CBT)
3.
4. Reasons to learn mindfulness
online
• Become more mindful
with work
• Engage better with
people
• Reduce stress,
anxiety or depression
“Every £1 spent on employee wellbeing
saves £1.96 in the short term and £3.07
in
long term”
the
(Knapp, McDaid and Parsonage, 2011)
5. The course
• Four weeks
• Ten online sessions
• Five audio downloads
• Twelve assignments
to practice
• Six downloadable handouts
• Online tools to view your progress
• Aftercare pack by post
7. Self-management training
• Planning, problem
solving, goal setting
• Developed by people
with mental illness
• Planned with single parents, BME groups,
prisoners…..
9. Reasons for employing people
with Asperger syndrome (AS)
• Above average in certain skills, particularly
technology, finance, mathematics, music
• Can be excellent with detail and focus
• Independent thinking – unique contribution
• Benefits of a diverse workforce
10. Aims of projects
• To train staff to be tolerant of difference
• To use reasonable adjustments
• To develop skill in communicating and supporting
people with AS
• To offer mentoring to people with AS & managers
+ budding scheme
Novartis
Goldman Sachs
European Space Agency
11. Innovation labs: Phase 1
Digital tools to support young people’s
mental health
• Partnership of 4 funders and
young people at board level
• Co-design with young people,
designers and mental health/youth
professionals
• 2 ‘ideation’ physical events
separated by an online incubation
period
12. Innovation labs: Phase 2
• Winnowing down from 194 ideas to 8
• ‘Enabling technology’: conducting existing practice in a
more efficient way (e.g. computer assisted/online CBT)
• ‘Transformative technology’: changing the locus of
control for care (Mind’s Eye, Mini Me, Doc Ready)
• Access to information
• Peer support
• Crowd-sourcing
• Individuals and therapists: challenge of dissemination of
innovation
• Cost-effectiveness
13. Challenges technology should
address in a MH context
• Better understanding of triggers and causes for
mental health problems
• Feeling in control
• Access (to information, to training, to care)
• Anonymity/confidentiality (stigma remains one of
the main reasons for seeking help online)
• Cost-effectiveness
• Appeal and motivation for specific target groups
(e.g. CYP)
14. Things to think about
• Change the locus of control
• Quality & effectiveness
• Safety & safeguarding
• Confidentiality
• Access & inequalities
• Peer support
• Efficiency (increasing disease burden and
decreasing resources)
15. Contact
Eva Cyhlarova Elise Leclerc
ecyhlarova@mentalhealth.org.uk eleclerc@mentalhealth.org.uk
www.mentalhealth.org.uk
