The Pandemic Induced Digital Transformation Brings Better Outcomes

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the consequences of lockdowns, social isolation, lack of connectedness, as well as unemployment and inequity, had a significant impact on people’s mental health. Thankfully, there has been an increase in efforts to identify novel approaches to mental health. Communities, governments, and investors are all recognising the importance of supporting mental health by launching projects around self-care and allocating funds to emerging mental health technologies.

During the HIMSS21 APAC Conference’s Mental Health session, Bruce Steinberg, managing director and EVP of HIMSS United Kingdom, spoke with Daniel Fung, CEO of the Institute of Mental Health in Singapore, about the importance of digital health in mental health. The presentation also included demos of Opsis CEO Andrew Ow’s Emotion AI software and CEO Theodoric Chew’s mobile mental health app Intellect, two examples of digital health innovations that aim to address major mental health concerns and improve outcomes.

Fung spoke on how digital tools may be used to address mental illness and mental health problems, the former of which is a disease that affects a small percentage of the population and the latter of which is stress-related and, in this case, Pandemic-related. For instance, Singapore’s planned online portal for mental health resources, an initiative of the Health Promotion Board, is reported to be primarily focused on the general public’s mental health.

It’s more about raising awareness, improving mental health literacy, promoting mental health, and preventing mental disease via education. For the time being, it is unclear whether digital solutions for mental health are gaining popularity, despite the fact that the younger population, which is more likely to be affected by mental diseases, is highly skilled at using current technologies.