Professional and service-user perspectives regarding the future of mental healthcare in Israel

A recent call has been made in Israel to address the needs of citizens inflicted by multiple adversities such world pandemic, internal conflicts, events of mass trauma and ongoing war. Nonetheless, public's and mental health professional's view regarding these needs and their prioritization is not well understood. This study aims to bridge this gap in knowledge, by assessing mental health service users and professionals' views regarding the future of mental health in Israel.

Two surveys were distributed to mental health professionals and service users. Responders (286 professionals and 522 service users) were asked about their vision for future mental health services and their views regarding the integration of technology and innovation, using a close-ended measure developed by mental health professionals to address local challenges.

The top-rated category among professionals and service users was improving accessibility, with 75% of the service users and 82% of the professionals ranking this item as one of top-three items. Individuals with less experience with the mental healthcare system tended to rank personalized care as second-ranked priority (OR = 0.48, p = 0.04), whereas highly experienced individuals were more likely to rank alternatives to psychiatric hospitalization as third-ranked priority (OR = 2.99, p < 0.001). Professionals ranked the level of innovation in Israel's mental healthcare as 3.37 (SD = 1.82), and service users ranked 3.18 (SD = 2.12) out of 10. Among mental health professionals, lack of resources was rated as the predominant challenge in implementing technology and innovation.

Policy and decision-makers in Israel should consider addressing the issue of mental healthcare accessibility as top priority when planning a mental health reform, as well as routes to improve personalized care and alternative to psychiatric admissions. Steps should be taken to improve innovation and technology as means to improve the quality of mental healthcare in Israel.