Priority Given to Technology in Government-Based Mental Health and Addictions Vision and Strategy Documents:...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Policy
• Digital Health

Background:

• Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are crucial for delivering mental health and addictions (MHA) services globally.
• The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift towards virtual care, emphasizing the need to monitor technology's role in MHA.
• Canadian MHA policy documents are key indicators of government priorities, yet the extent of technology integration within them remains unexamined.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review Canadian government-based MHA policy documents published before the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To establish a baseline understanding of how technology was addressed in MHA policy.
• To identify trends and variations in the mention of technology across different Canadian jurisdictions.

Main Methods:

• A systematic policy review of 22 government-based MHA policy documents from 2011-2019 across 13 Canadian provinces and territories.
• Content analysis was used to synthesize policy priorities and identify key themes.
• A systematic search and tabulation of 39 technology-related keywords (in English and French) were conducted.

Main Results:

• Technology was mentioned in all reviewed documents, but to varying degrees.
• 22 categories of technology-related keywords were identified, with 'tele,' 'phone,' 'tech,' 'online,' 'line,' and 'web' being the most common.
• Mentions of advanced technologies like 'virtual' and 'app' were infrequent, and the diversity of ICTs discussed varied significantly by province/territory.

Conclusions:

• Canadian MHA policy has given limited strategic attention to technology integration.
• There is a need for knowledge translation and collaboration between policymakers and researchers regarding technology's potential in MHA.
• The study provides a pre-pandemic baseline and methods to monitor future technology adoption in MHA policy, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.