Opportunities for Digital Mental Health Apps to Reduce Mental Health Disparities in Racially and Ethnically Minoritized Group

Course overview

Course Description: This course is based upon material published in the JMIR Mental Health and is available as an open-access article. The behavioral health toll of the COVID-19 pandemic and systemic racism has directed increased attention to the potential of digital health as a way of improving access to and quality of behavioral health care. However, as the pandemic continues to widen health disparities in racially and ethnically minoritized groups, concerns arise around an increased reliance on digital health technologies exacerbating the digital divide and reinforcing rather than mitigating systemic health inequities in communities of color. As funding for digital mental health continues to surge, we offer five key recommendations on how the field can REACT to ensure the development of approaches that increase health equity by increasing real-world evidence, educating consumers and providers, utilizing adaptive interventions to optimize care, creating for diverse populations, and building trust. Recommendations highlight the need to take a strengths-based view when designing for racially and ethnically diverse populations and embracing the potential of digital approaches to address complex challenges. This course on digital mental health apps to reduce mental health disparities in racially and ethnically minoritized groups is designed for social workers, professional counselors, psychologists, nurses, and substance abuse counselors, who do clinical work. In addition, this course is appropriate for beginning, intermediate, and advanced level practitioners who wish to develop their knowledge of digital mental health apps in order to reduce mental health disparities in racially and ethnically minoritized groups. The course material includes a literature review of research. It may also be useful for licensed clinicians who require continuing clinical education courses for license renewal. The course is based on a journal article that includes research. It contains statistical analysis and data that some clinicians enjoy reading and others do not. A significant benefit of reading research-based articles for continuing education is they provide practitioners with the latest findings in their field. Authors: Friis-Healy, Nagy, and Kollins Learning Objectives: This course will provide the practitioner with detailed information regarding digital mental health apps to reduce mental health disparities in racially and ethnically minoritized groups. Specifically, a professional will: Explain the need for providing innovative behavioral health approaches that support effective and accessible care to overcome existing health disparities. Identify five key recommendations on how to REACT to increase health equity. Describe the key role that digital mental health tools play in expanding access to care for those most impacted by COVID-19 and systemic racism. Citation: Friis-Healy, E. A., Nagy, G. A., and Kollins, S. H. (2021). It Is Time to React: Opportunities for Digital Mental Health Apps to Reduce Mental Health Disparities in Racially and Ethnically Minoritized Groups. JMIR Mental Health, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.2196/25456