Investigation of multimodal mobile applications for improving mental health

Abstract

The National Alliance on Mental Illness reports that one in four adults experience mental health issues in a given year. Stigmas surrounding mental health issues often leave those afflicted reluctance to seek treatment. Those individuals that do decide to pursue treatment are often denied because of cost and lack of health care coverage or simply do not know where to find it. Assisted technologies can bridge these gaps, providing not only information on how to manage symptoms, but viable treatment options (e.g., adaptive management plans and training, physiological sensing, and alerts for physical symptom onset). The pairing of wearable technology, smart applications, and blended learning techniques can teach patients and caregivers the skills needed for lifetime management. The present theoretical paper provides a literature review of current technology platforms that can be utilized by the mental health domain and explores viable mental health technology options for the next five years.