How Apps are Providing Access for Mental Health Care

Article Excerpt: Increasingly, mobile devices are creating new access points in patient care. Online addiction programs like the one offered by Lionrock Recovery are reducing barriers to care for those struggling with alcohol and drug addictions by offering options that are less costly, time-consuming, and public. At the forefront of efforts to provide mental health care via apps is the military. Reaching a population that’s technologically savvy, but reluctant to seek emotional support is what’s driving the military’s research and development into mobile health apps. The National Center for Telehealth & Technology, also known as T2, which is part of the Department of Defense and the Military Health System, offers nearly a dozen apps on its website that provide veterans and their families with free, anonymous support. Based on clinical research, the apps are “designed to fill what we call the ‘white spaces’ in between appointments” or at least provide an entry point into self-awareness that will lead to professional care, says T2 spokesman Joe Jimenez.