The two prior questions that arise when it comes to health tech.
Non-healthcare person: Does technology really have the potential to enhance mental health & wellness?
Healthcare professionals: How does tech improve mental health & well-being?
And this blog contains practical information on both questions.
First, technology improves mental health & wellness in the true sense!
Mental health & wellness solutions mean 3T – Track, test, and treat!
Technology makes the procedure easily accessible and convenient for the patients.
Here is a scenario to understand.
A traditional visit with a mental health specialist is an extra burden for the patients as they need to travel long, stay in the waiting room, and documentation hassle.
Means, this entire approach is time-consuming and inaccessible while at the same time costlier.
On the other hand, a virtual visit with an online psychiatrist saves time, costs and allows patients to get the care they need from their comfort zone.
What’s more important here is that it enables both patients and healthcare professionals in gathering the most important aspect – Data.
And this is something that lacks in the traditional method.
Top 5 game-changing ways to improve mental health & overall wellness using technology
Good mental health and wellness is not a destination. It’s a process.
And technology pours magic into the procedure without adding any complex barriers.
#1. Telemedicine or telehealth
A concept that transformed the entire healthcare system.
Telemedicine aims to deliver experience. Not just a care solution.
Patients having mental illnesses such as stress, depression, anxiety, and ADHD can connect with the online therapist at any time, from anywhere using their smartphone, tablet, laptop, or computer.
But does it really enhance mental health? Here is simple logic.
A person going through poor mental health always attempts the easiest or most comfortable way to get the care solution in order to avoid the outside world chaos.
Telemedicine bears a value that plays a significant role in improving mental health – a comfort zone!
However, for healthcare entities, there is still a misconception about the cost of telemedicine due to the lack of tech stack understanding.
#2. IoT technology
IoT (Internet of Things) is a way to offer peace of mind to mental health and wellness efforts.
The ultimate goal of the IoT is to harness the true power of the data.
Smartwatches, glucometers, fitness bands, and headbands are common examples of healthcare IoT devices.
It gathers the real-time health data of the person such as,
- Blood pressure
- Pulse rate
- Sugar level
- Oxygen level
- Sleep Quality
IoT devices send those real-time data into the other health tech systems.
This helps the healthcare professional to analyze the various patterns such as mood, sleep quality, and much more other things so that they can create the most effective and affordable care plan for the patients.
Last but not least, it also lets the person track their progress and shares the data with the specialist for improvement advice.
#3. mHealth apps
Let’s understand this with real-world examples.
● Calm
Sleep, meditation, and relaxation are the pillars for improving mental health and overall wellness.
Calm offers the same thing to people having stress, anxiety, poor sleep, and lower focus with the help of the curated meditation guides, sleep stories, peaceful music, relaxation techniques, and exercise.
Apart from Calm,
- Headspace is the most popular meditation app worldwide
- MyFitnessPal is #5 in health & fitness
#4. AI-powered healthcare
AI is a synonym for peace of mind in the entire healthcare ecosystem.
Its ability to assist the medical professional in care delivery and predicting the outcome using large-scale data has elevated the scenario of the mental health and wellness care approach.
For instance, HoloAsh detects emotions from the person’s voice!
It uses NLP (Natural Language Processing) to analyze the pattern of anxiety, depression, and stress in order to help the counselor in the best possible way.
#5. Emotion detection and recognition
This state-of-the-art technology is a game-changer in mental health.
That’s the reason, its market will reach $43.3 billion by 2027! (Source).
It has the ability to detect the patterns of mental health disorders via images and videos.
This helps the healthcare professionals in improving mental health as they are now easily able to create the most appropriate care plan for the patients.
To sum it up
Technology is not enough to enhance mental health and overall wellness. A fusion of an ideal care plan, effective execution, and the right amount of after-care approach can do miracles for patients!
Categories: Mental Health
Parth Patel
I am Parth Patel, Founder, and CEO of SyS Creations, a top Pharmacy app development Company. For the past 8+ years, I've been decoding the technical, business, and compliance concerns of healthcare startups, enterprises, and organizations to help them achieve their business goals hassle-free.
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