Mental Health Reform launch new report on Digital Inclusion and Access to Mental Health Services
October 27 2023
Mental Health Reform and HSE Mental Health Engagement and Recovery office recently unveiled their ground-breaking report on “Digital Inclusion and Access to Mental Health Services.”
Digital inclusion refers to the activities necessary to ensure that all individuals and communities, including the most disadvantaged, have access to and use of Information and Communication Technologies. With an increased number of mental health services and supports becoming available in digital form, ensuring these services are available and accessible to all those who need them has become more vital than ever.
The report seeks to cast light on the issue of digital inequalities experienced by those with mental health difficulties and its impact on mental health and wellbeing.
The use of digital mental health technologies brings numerous benefits, including increased flexibility and the potential for innovative service delivery. However, certain population groups may face disadvantages in this post-pandemic ‘new normal’ if their needs are not addressed.
Recommendations from the report
- Department of Health, HSE and mental health policy implementation processes to give digital mental health inclusion high visibility and importance in current and forthcoming strategies.
- Department of Health to engage with other Departments and Agencies on measures to address access to and affordability of digital mental health as an important category of online/digital public services.
- Mental Health Sector, within its own remit and scope of action, to develop approaches to address digital divide barriers for relevant mental health service users and usage contexts.
- Mental Health Sector to develop a line of action within a social-inclusion/inclusion-health framework to leverage digital mental health to reach and support vulnerable groups.
- Mental Health Sector to directly engage with mental health service users on their experience of digital mental health inclusion and involve them in developing solutions and service co-design.
- Mental Health Sector and Adult Literacy Sector to work together to develop and implement a large-scale programme combining digital skills and mental health literacy.
- Government to provide funding for ‘bottom-up’ digital mental health inclusion and innovation projects under Digital for Good or other relevant frameworks or funding mechanisms.
- Mental Health Sector to give focused attention to accessibility of online/digital mental health for people with disabilities.
Click below to read the report
Read the Full Report (Word Version)
Read the Executive Summary (Word Version)
ENDS