Everyone can recall at least one person from their freshman
dorm hall that locked themselves away each night to feverishly study, and was
rarely seen at a social event of any kind.
Over the past few years, the number of college students that
suffer from existing or developing psychological problems has become
increasingly alarming. According to data
from a recent survey distributed to college mental health facilities, the Association for University
and College Counseling Center Directors found that anxiety (41.6%), depression
(36.4%) and relationship problems (35.8%) are of high concern and negatively affect their student’s lives .
These severe psychological problems cannot be taken lightly and if ignored can
result in poor academic performance, negative behavior, or in extreme cases – tragedies
such as suicide or acts of violence (i.e. school shootings.)
Over the past few years, the number of college students that
suffer from existing or developing psychological problems has become
increasingly alarming. According to data
from a recent survey distributed to college mental health facilities, the Association for University
and College Counseling Center Directors found that anxiety (41.6%), depression
(36.4%) and relationship problems (35.8%) are of high concern and negatively affect their student’s lives .
These severe psychological problems cannot be taken lightly and if ignored can
result in poor academic performance, negative behavior, or in extreme cases – tragedies
such as suicide or acts of violence (i.e. school shootings.)
In
the aftermath of a campus tragedy, heads automatically turn to issues of
inadequate safety protocols or access to weaponry. We can spend countless hours
trying to perfect campus security or advocating for reversed weapon laws, but
there is another angle to approach when battling this unfortunate reality –
improved campus psychological services and availability.
In the previously
mentioned study, 19% of the surveyed directors reported that the availability of
psychiatric services on their campus is inadequate. As budget cuts continue to
roll in nationwide, hiring more staff is simply not a valid solution for many
colleges. However, what if there was a tool that could assist clinicians in
monitoring their patients that promoted efficiency and improved diagnoses so
that they could increase patient volume?
Mobile Therapy is a web-based dashboard and mobile application that
collects data from patient’s smartphones, using this data to bridge the
information gap between what has occurred between office visits. This data is translated
into easy to read reports that track
progress, identify triggers, monitor medication compliance and more.
In today’s market,
several tools have emerged to monitor patient behavior or provide virtual
therapy, but they often lack strong scientific research. Mobile Therapy is
designed by a renowned team of psychologists including Harvard’s DanGilbert,
University of Texas, Austin’s JamesW. Pennebaker, to
name a few. Their combined expertise and scientific research has allowed Mobile
Therapy to capture valuable data that aids the clinician in treatment process
and diagnoses.
As a Smartphone
application, Mobile Therapy appeals to the younger, tech savvy generation. It
is easy for students to check in throughout the day at the swipe of a finger
answering quick, customizable slider questions about how they are feeling and
what they are doing. Mobile Therapy also tracks passive data such as physical
activity and emotional sentiment, using an advanced text analysis system.
Mobile Therapy
allows clinicians to collect more information about the students than they
would typically obtain during an office visit. Patients of this age group – and
college students in general – may be more reluctant than older patients to
fully disclose any information in person that they feel to be private, or
emotional. This may also be why many turn to outlets such as social media to
express themselves buffered by their computer screens. Gaining access to more
detailed, in-depth patient information can allow for more efficient office
visits and overall treatment processes – ultimately creating more availability
for the clinician.
“Up until now
therapists have had to rely upon what their clients tell them when they’re in
the office. Starting now with Mobile Therapy, therapists have access to what
their clients were really thinking, feeling and doing when they weren’t being
seen.” – Dan Gilbert, PhD, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University;
Author of Stumbling Happiness
Thinking back to the person that came to mind at the
beginning of this article, were they depressed? Stressed? Antisocial? Or just a
dedicated student? It’s tough to say, but it is crucial for college campuses to
have the appropriate resources available, in order to support the 40% of college students that are suffering from mild to serious (21%) mental health problems.
It’s said that approximately 50% of the population
prescribed medication does not comply with the full term of their treatments.
This causes an issue in measuring the medication’s efficacy in that patient and
limits the realization of its benefits.
SelfEcho’s Mobile Therapy offers several tools that
clinicians can use to assist in motivating and measuring medication compliance
in patients. The system includes a reporting dashboard when clinicians can
track emotional reports and behaviors of clients using data that is collected
by a mobile app that runs on the client’s dashboard. One of the features the
reporting includes is a section where previous and current medication may be
entered. These medications and a patient’s compliance can be juxtaposed against
other tracked metrics like moods and behaviors.
Here are a few examples that showcase how one can use Mobile Therapy’s
reporting system to promote medication compliance.
1. Address Improvements
Comparing the changes in behavior and mood from before and after the start of a medication regimen is easily accomplished using the reporting dashboard. Sharing this data with a patient gives the patient a clear visual understanding of their improvement and creates an association between medication and progress.
Comparing the changes in behavior and mood from before and after the start of a medication regimen is easily accomplished using the reporting dashboard. Sharing this data with a patient gives the patient a clear visual understanding of their improvement and creates an association between medication and progress.
Seeing this progress motivates the client to continue with
their medication regime.
2. Pair old and new routines
If the patient is
meant to take their medication at a certain time of day, encourage them to pair
taking the dose with an already well-established habit. In the morning, pairing medication with their
current routine of brushing teeth, is one example. Piggybacking medication on
top of a common habit is easier than doing it out of the blue and will
eventually create a mental reminder and assist in the formation of a new habit
that includes medication.
3.
Increase Awareness
There are cases where clients fail to comply with their medication schedule because of a lack of awareness and understanding. Sometimes the client is poorly educated about their condition and the importance of their medication schedule. Increasing health literacy -ensuring that the client is very familiar with the purpose and effect of the medication- has been shown to boost adherence to a medication schedule.
There are cases where clients fail to comply with their medication schedule because of a lack of awareness and understanding. Sometimes the client is poorly educated about their condition and the importance of their medication schedule. Increasing health literacy -ensuring that the client is very familiar with the purpose and effect of the medication- has been shown to boost adherence to a medication schedule.
Here is an image of the Mobile Therapy medication dashboard.
Clinician’s can input and reference past medications, dosages, and frequencies.
With this information one can address concerns and questions clients have about
their previous medication experiences and how it has been adjusted over time in
accord with their progress and how it may be adjusted in the future.
As a best practice always ensure that a patient is aware of
the details of their prescribed medication(s), what the effects and possible
side effects are, and be sure to follow-up with them routinely to assess
impacts. Suggest adjustments in medication and dosage as they are required. Medication
compliance and adherence is difficult to measure and maintain, but with Mobile
Therapy it becomes quite a bit easier.
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