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Therefore, digital mental health tools have been used to meet the needs of people with mental disorders. Mobile phones have been identified as the preferred tool for accessing health care, due to their great availability and prevalence. A WHO survey of 15,000 health apps indicated that 29% of them focus on providing mental health services.
Although accessibility of cell phones is extremely popular around the world, some companies are not aware of its benefits. This digital divide highlights the inequalities between people, depending on their age, income level or level of education. But cases like this remain unusual for the open availability capabilities of smart tools.
On the other hand, smartphone applications improve the availability and quality of mental health treatment, as well as the overall capacity of care. However, these applications are still vulnerable to both supply and demand. Personal care is always associated with less expensive options than direct (person-to-person) care. While the initial cost of finding, collecting and providing information may seem prohibitive at first glance, once these resources are made available over the Internet (via mobile applications or over the network), the cost of managing these services is relatively small. Typically, these mobile-friendly tools are available to help healthcare providers, not to compete with them.
Dedicated benefits
In order to reap the benefits of digital mental health tools, patients need to understand that they are not replacing healthcare providers, but complementing their work. In addition, healthcare providers, psychologists and psychiatrists must believe that these tools play a supporting role and will not reduce their independence or spoil their relationship with their patients. Therefore, they should encourage themselves and their patients to take advantage of digital mental health tools. Health systems should continue to educate end users about the importance of these tools, their functions and benefits, promoting them through various channels. In addition, governments should provide more funding to develop these technologies and conduct more research in this area.
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There is no doubt that improving the efficiency of digital mental health tools requires activating them through artificial intelligence, in order to improve their capabilities. AI-based tools can be used for early detection of mental disorders and early interventions such as CBT. Also, to contribute to the creation of a multitasking environment, these tools must be integrated and connected to each other. Technical experts also need to develop highly effective and interactive tools for mental health, in addition to building the necessary confidence in digital tools by improving information security and reducing the risk of privacy breaches.
The challenge posed by digital mental health tools
Despite the capabilities of digital mental health tools, some challenges must be met. There is no doubt that digital tools such as mobile phones are plentiful, but Internet access varies from person to person depending on their age, income level and education. This digital barrier can lead to inequalities in digital access to mental health services.
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