Digital Mental Health and Its Discontents: Assumptions About Technology That Create Barriers to Equitable Access
Ellen E Kozelka1, Stephanie C Acquilano1, Monirah Al-Abdulmunem1
1Department of Anthropology, University of Vermont, Burlington (Kozelka); Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, New Hampshire (Acquilano, Elwyn); Westat, Lebanon, New Hampshire (Al-Abdulmunem, Drake); Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester, Manchester, New Hampshire (Guarino); Department of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City (Drake); Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire (Carpenter-Song).
Abstract:
Despite the potential of digital mental health interventions to aid recovery for people with serious mental illness, access to these digital tools remains a key barrier. In this column, the authors discuss three key assumptions that shape the integration of digital mental health tools into community health settings: clinical context, digital literacy, and financial burden. Clinical contexts have shifted with the increased use of telehealth, altering intervention environments; access to a mobile device is not the same as digital literacy; and digital mental health care is not necessarily affordable. Context-centered study design through ethnography will facilitate transfer of digital resources to real-world settings.
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