An intelligent mental health assistant for relapse prevention
Vilnius Psychiatric Hospital together with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania is looking for a digital solution that would act as a smart mental health assistant for relapse prevention.
Context
- Mental health is one of the priority areas of health, as mental health disorders affect 1 in 4 people and can have long-term negative consequences for human well-being. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the help of psychiatrists is available, timely, and meets the personalized needs of the individual to ensure continuity of care after hospitalization.
- In a psychiatric hospital, a person’s mental health is thoroughly assessed and complex treatment is prescribed. When patients leave the hospital, recommendations are given on how they should continue their medical treatment, where to seek outpatient care, what self-help methods they should use to restore good mental health and prevent relapse (deterioration).
- However, it is not uncommon for patients who leave the hospital to stop taking or change their medication, delay their follow-up, and have a general lack of knowledge about their treatment and a healthy lifestyle. This largely results in faster deterioration (relapse) of the mental disorder and re-treatment in the hospital, which is economically detrimental to the state.
Solution
A solution is needed that would consist of two modules: specialist (hospital, doctor) and user (patient):
- The specialist would draw up a medication plan, daily activity plan and treatment recommendations for the patient completing the hospital treatment. Patient data would be encrypted.
- A mobile application for the user would be a mental health assistant. The application could encourage patients to follow treatment recommendations, remind them to take medication on time (eg by audio message, follow a healthy daily routine (rest, diet, physical activity, sleep), help monitor well-being, make a timely visit to a mental health center, etc. would be a significant help to prevent the deterioration of mental disorders, reduce cognitive (memory, thinking, decision-making) deficits due to mental disorders, as well as allow the individual to become more involved in his / her own health management and feel more independent and empowered.