Summary of key issues raised in the Technology for Early Awareness of Addiction and Mental Illness (TEAAM-I) meeting

Abstract

Technology provides an unparalleled opportunity to remove barriers to earlier identification and engagement in services for mental and addictive disorders by reaching people earlier in the course of illness and providing links to just-intime, cost-effective interventions. Achieving this opportunity, however, requires stakeholders to challenge underlying assumptions about traditional pathways to mental health care. In this Open Forum, the authors highlight key issues discussed in the Technology for Early Awareness of Addiction and Mental Illness (TEAAM-I) meeting-held October 13-14, 2016, in New York City-that are related to three identified areas in which technology provides important and unique opportunities to advance early identification, increase service engagement, and decrease the duration of untreated mental and addictive disorders.