Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Oct:2019:156-170.
doi: 10.1145/3308561.3353785.

Understanding Mental Ill-health as Psychosocial Disability: Implications for Assistive Technology

Kathryn E Ringland  1   2 , Jennifer Nicholas  2 , Rachel Kornfield  1   2 , Emily G Lattie  2 , David C Mohr  2 , Madhu Reddy  1
Affiliations

Understanding Mental Ill-health as Psychosocial Disability: Implications for Assistive Technology

Kathryn E Ringland et al. ASSETS. 2019 Oct.

Abstract

Psychosocial disability involves actual or perceived impairment due to a diversity of mental, emotional, or cognitive experiences. While assistive technology for psychosocial disabilities has been understudied in communities such as ASSETS, advances in computing have opened up a number of new avenues for assisting those with psychosocial disabilities beyond the clinic. However, these tools continue to emerge primarily within the framework of "treatment," emphasizing resolution or improvement of mental health symptoms. This work considers what it means to adopt a social model lens from disability studies and incorporate the expertise of assistive technology researchers in relation to mental health. Our investigation draws on interviews conducted with 18 individuals who have complex health needs that include mental health symptoms. This work highlights the potential role for assistive technology in supporting psychosocial disability outside of a clinical or medical framework.

Keywords: Depression; anxiety; mental health; psychosocial disability; social model of disability.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Anthony William A.. 1993. Recovery from mental illness: The guiding vision of the mental health service system in the 1990s. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal 16, 4: 11–23. 10.1037/h0095655 - DOI
    1. Aubrecht Katie. 2014. Disability Studies and the Language of Mental Illness. Review of Disability Studies 8, 2.
    1. Baron Richard C., Dezenski Linda, and Rogers Joseph. 2013. Improving Communication Across the Independent Living/Mental Health Divide. Disability Studies Quarterly 33, 3. 10.18061/dsq.v33i3.1764 - DOI
    1. Barreto Manuela and Ellemers Naomi. 2010. Current Issues in the Study of Social Stigma: Some Controversies and Unresolved Issues. Journal of Social Issues 66, 3: 431–445. 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2010.01654.x - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bell Morris D. and Weinstein Andrea. 2011. Simulated job interview skill training for people with psychiatric disability: Feasibility and tolerability of virtual reality training. Schizophrenia bulletin 37, suppl_2: S91–S97. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources