Digital Mental Health and COVID-19: Using Technology Today to Accelerate the Curve on Access and Quality Tomorrow

Abstract

As interest in and use of telehealth during the COVID-19 global pandemic increase, the potential of digital health to increase access and quality of mental health is becoming clear. Although the world today must "flatten the curve" of spread of the virus, we argue that now is the time to "accelerate and bend the curve" on digital health. Increased investments in digital health today will yield unprecedented access to high-quality mental health care. Focusing on personal experiences and projects from our diverse authorship team, we share selected examples of digital health innovations while acknowledging that no single piece can discuss all the impressive global efforts past and present. Exploring the success of telehealth during the present crisis and how technologies like apps can soon play a larger role, we discuss the need for workforce training, high-quality evidence, and digital equity among other factors critical for bending the curve further.

Keywords: apps; digital health; emergency response; telehealth.

Figure 1

Bending the curve further on access and quality of care will require increased efforts around safety, evidence, engagement, outcomes, and implementation. However, these increased efforts will yield greater returns at each step. The COVID-19 crisis has (at least temporarily) removed implementation barriers to synchronous telehealth through regulatory changes, and the evidence, safety, and engagement were already in place before. The next steps to use apps toward asynchronous telehealth will require continued effort but yield even greater increases in access to high-quality care.