{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "Using Apps for Mental Healthcare |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Using Apps for Mental Healthcare",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cms/news/2024/07/2024-07-02-case-study-increasing-access-to-required-bankruptcy-meetings/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cms/news/2024/07/2024-07-02-case-study-increasing-access-to-required-bankruptcy-meetings/2015/06/25/using-apps-for-mental-healthcare/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Using Apps for Mental Healthcare","summary" : "Technology has opened new pathways for delivering health care, including mental health services. The National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2), part of the Department of Defense, offers multiple apps that address health care for service members in a variety of ways. At a talk with","date" : "2015-06-25T13:00:22-04:00","date_modified" : "2024-07-05T22:14:24-04:00","authors" : {"awichman" : "Ashley Wichman"},"topics" : {
        
            "mobile" : "Mobile"
            },"branch" : "cms/news/2024/07/2024-07-02-case-study-increasing-access-to-required-bankruptcy-meetings",
      "filename" :"2015-06-25-using-apps-for-mental-healthcare.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2015/06/2015-06-25-using-apps-for-mental-healthcare.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/cms/news/2024/07/2024-07-02-case-study-increasing-access-to-required-bankruptcy-meetings/content/news/2015/06/2015-06-25-using-apps-for-mental-healthcare.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/cms/news/2024/07/2024-07-02-case-study-increasing-access-to-required-bankruptcy-meetings/content/news/2015/06/2015-06-25-using-apps-for-mental-healthcare.md","slug" : "using-apps-for-mental-healthcare","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cms/news/2024/07/2024-07-02-case-study-increasing-access-to-required-bankruptcy-meetings/2015/06/25/using-apps-for-mental-healthcare/","content" :"\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/06/250-x-417-T2-National-Center-for-Telehealth-and-Technology-PTSD-Coach-Android-app-Department-of-Veterans-Affairs.jpg\"\n    alt=\"PTSD Coach Android app menu screen\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\nTechnology has opened new pathways for delivering health care, including mental health services.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ca href=\"http://t2health.dcoe.mil/\"\u003eNational Center for Telehealth and Technology\u003c/a\u003e (T2), part of the Department of Defense, offers multiple \u003ca href=\"http://t2health.dcoe.mil/products/mobile-apps\"\u003eapps that address health care for service members\u003c/a\u003e in a variety of ways.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt a talk with the \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cms/news/2024/07/2024-07-02-case-study-increasing-access-to-required-bankruptcy-meetings/communities/\"\u003eMobileGov Community of Practice\u003c/a\u003e earlier this year, Dr. David Cooper, a psychologist for T2, said the apps are a way to provide services and make appointments more effective and efficient for patients.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Mobile intervention is helpful because I can give [an app] to someone before they even come to my office, and someone can try it out and get more instant relief,” Cooper said. “For example, diaphragmatic breathing is something I would teach every patient; with the \u003ca href=\"http://t2health.dcoe.mil/apps/breathe2relax\"\u003eBreathe2Relax app\u003c/a\u003e [on \u003ca href=\"https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.t2health.breathe2relax\u0026amp;hl=en\"\u003eAndroid\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/breathe2relax/id425720246?mt=8\"\u003eApple\u003c/a\u003e], they can now learn these techniques at home. Then, they can come in and talk about how it went.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe apps can also reach service members who may be reluctant to reach out for help.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“With all of our apps, because they are focused on psychological health, we have to focus on stigma,” Cooper said. “Service members don’t want to come in and see a provider because they are worried it will hurt their careers. We go overboard to make sure it is anonymous usage and that we aren’t collecting demographic information.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eT2 developed a \u003ca href=\"http://t2health.dcoe.mil/apps/ptsd-coach\"\u003ePTSD Coach app\u003c/a\u003e [on \u003ca href=\"https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.va.ptsd.ptsdcoach\u0026amp;hl=en\"\u003eAndroid\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ptsd-coach/id430646302?mt=8\"\u003eApple\u003c/a\u003e] to assist veterans and active duty personnel (and civilians) who are experiencing symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The app provides information about PTSD, a self-assessment, a symptoms tracker, and assistance in identifying support outlets, including a link to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. The app was designed to be used as in conjunction with treatment but can be used as a stand-alone education tool.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCooper and his team view mobile as a 21st century way to provide high-quality, research-backed services.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/06/250-x-446-T2-National-Center-for-Telehealth-and-Technology-Virtual-Hope-Box.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Virtual Hope Box app menu screen\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n“We find something that is evidence-based, and we believe that there is no reason that it shouldn’t also be available on a mobile platform,” Cooper said. “For \u003ca href=\"http://t2health.dcoe.mil/apps/virtual-hope-box\"\u003eVirtual Hope Box\u003c/a\u003e [on \u003ca href=\"https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.t2.vhb\u0026amp;hl=en\"\u003eAndroid\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/virtual-hope-box/id825099621?mt=8\"\u003eApple\u003c/a\u003e], we were inspired by physical hope boxes: boxes people filled with music, photos, etc. that help users cope with symptoms of depression. So we took that hope box idea and put it on a phone.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCooper’s team does field testing and conducts patient and provider focus groups. For Virtual Hope Box, they learned that more patients would use the virtual version than a physical version.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe preferences and realities of healthcare providers are also considered in the app development process. A “prescription pad” with a list of all T2 mobile apps is one way that they have marketed the apps to providers.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“We have to cater to both patients and providers: if I create something that isn’t going to fit in the provider’s workflow, they aren’t going to use it,” Cooper said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e_T2’s apps can be found on the \u003ca href=\"http://www.usa.gov/mobileapps.shtml\"\u003eMobile Apps Directory on USA.gov\u003c/a\u003e. Do you have a federal app that is not listed on the Directory? Take part in the \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cms/news/2024/07/2024-07-02-case-study-increasing-access-to-required-bankruptcy-meetings/2015/05/21/start-sleuthing-with-the-great-federal-mobile-product-hunt/\"\u003eGreat Federal Mobile Product Hunt\u003c/a\u003e.\n_\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}