Despite the potential for improved population mental health and wellbeing, the digital mental health interventions remains challenging. A recent qualitative systematic review reveals the main barriers and facilitators to implementing digital mental health technologies in mental healthcare systems, providing insights for policy development.
The review involved a comprehensive search of Medline, Embase, Scopus, PsycInfo, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for primary research articles published between January 2010 and 2022. Eligible studies were those reporting barriers and/or facilitators to integrating digital mental healthcare technologies. Data extraction and analysis involved a combination of inductive and deductive cycles.
Out of 12,525 references identified initially, 81 studies were included in the final analysis. The identified barriers and facilitators were grouped within an implementation (evidence-practice gap) framework across six domains, organized by four levels of mental healthcare systems. The integration of digital technologies was generally hindered by the perception of these tools as impersonal and burdensome for both providers and patients, as well as changes in relational power dynamics. Lack of resources and regulatory complexities that impede access to universal coverage were also significant barriers.
Key to Digital Mental Health Success: Person-Centered Approaches and Collaborative Policy Efforts
Facilitating factors, on the other hand, included person-centered approaches that consider patients’ intersectional features such as gender, class, disability, and illness severity. Evidence-based training for providers, collaboration among colleagues, appropriate investment in human and financial resources, and policy reforms that tackle universal access to digital mental health were also identified as key facilitators.
The findings underline the importance of considering the complex and interrelated nature of barriers across different domains and levels of the mental health system. To facilitate the equitable, sustainable, and long-term digital transition of mental health systems, policymakers should consider a systemic approach to collaboration between public and private sectors to inform evidence-based planning and strengthen digital mental health systems.
Original Article DOI: 10.1186/s12913-023-10536-1
Original title: Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of digital technologies in mental health systems: a qualitative systematic review to inform a policy framework
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