Improving Access and Mental Health
for Youth Through Virtual Models of Care
Cheryl Forchuk
1,2(&) , Sandra Fisman
3 , Jeffrey P. Reiss
1,2 ,
Kerry Collins
4 , Julie Eichstedt
4 , Abraham Rudnick
5,6 ,
Wanrudee Isaranuwatchai
7 , Jeffrey S. Hoch
8 , Xianbin Wang
2 ,
Daniel Lizotte
2 , Shona Macpherson
4 , and Richard Booth
1,2
1 Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada
cforchuk@uwo.ca
2 Western University, London, ON, Canada
3 St. Joseph’s Health Care, London, ON, Canada
4 London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON, Canada
5 Department of Psychiatry and School of Occupational Therapy,
Dalhousie University Halifax, Halifax, NS, Canada
6 Nova Scotia Operational Stress Injury Clinic, Nova Scotia Health Authority,
Halifax, NS, Canada
7 St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
8 Division of Health Policy and Management, Department of Public Health
Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
Abstract. The overall objective of this research is to evaluate the use of a mobile
health smartphone application (app) to improve the mental health of youth
between the ages of 14–25 years, with symptoms of anxiety/depression. This
project includes 115 youth who are accessing outpatient mental health services at
one of three hospitals and two community agencies. The youth and care providers
are using eHealth technology to enhance care. The technology uses mobile
questionnaires to help promote self-assessment and track changes to support the
plan of care. The technology also allows secure virtual treatment visits that youth
can participate in through mobile devices. This longitudinal study uses participatory action research with mixed methods. The majority of participants identified themselves as Caucasian (66.9%). Expectedly, the demographics revealed
that Anxiety Disorders and Mood Disorders were highly prevalent within the
sample (71.9% and 67.5% respectively). Findings from the qualitative summary
established that both staff and youth found the software and platform beneficial.
Keywords: Smart technology Á Youth Á Mental health Á eHealth
1 Introduction
In Canada, the total cost of treatment, care and support services for mental health
problems exceeds 42.3 billion Canadian dollars per year [1], with mental health services for young people being the second highest youth healthcare expenditure after
injuries [2]. Although 70% of mental health problems develop during childhood and
adolescence [3], only a quarter of the 10–20% of Canadian youth affected by mental
© The Author(s) 2020
M. Jmaiel et al. (Eds.): ICOST 2020, LNCS 12157, pp. 210–220, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51517-1_17
for Youth Through Virtual Models of Care
Cheryl Forchuk
1,2(&) , Sandra Fisman
3 , Jeffrey P. Reiss
1,2 ,
Kerry Collins
4 , Julie Eichstedt
4 , Abraham Rudnick
5,6 ,
Wanrudee Isaranuwatchai
7 , Jeffrey S. Hoch
8 , Xianbin Wang
2 ,
Daniel Lizotte
2 , Shona Macpherson
4 , and Richard Booth
1,2
1 Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada
cforchuk@uwo.ca
2 Western University, London, ON, Canada
3 St. Joseph’s Health Care, London, ON, Canada
4 London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON, Canada
5 Department of Psychiatry and School of Occupational Therapy,
Dalhousie University Halifax, Halifax, NS, Canada
6 Nova Scotia Operational Stress Injury Clinic, Nova Scotia Health Authority,
Halifax, NS, Canada
7 St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
8 Division of Health Policy and Management, Department of Public Health
Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
Abstract. The overall objective of this research is to evaluate the use of a mobile
health smartphone application (app) to improve the mental health of youth
between the ages of 14–25 years, with symptoms of anxiety/depression. This
project includes 115 youth who are accessing outpatient mental health services at
one of three hospitals and two community agencies. The youth and care providers
are using eHealth technology to enhance care. The technology uses mobile
questionnaires to help promote self-assessment and track changes to support the
plan of care. The technology also allows secure virtual treatment visits that youth
can participate in through mobile devices. This longitudinal study uses participatory action research with mixed methods. The majority of participants identified themselves as Caucasian (66.9%). Expectedly, the demographics revealed
that Anxiety Disorders and Mood Disorders were highly prevalent within the
sample (71.9% and 67.5% respectively). Findings from the qualitative summary
established that both staff and youth found the software and platform beneficial.
Keywords: Smart technology Á Youth Á Mental health Á eHealth
1 Introduction
In Canada, the total cost of treatment, care and support services for mental health
problems exceeds 42.3 billion Canadian dollars per year [1], with mental health services for young people being the second highest youth healthcare expenditure after
injuries [2]. Although 70% of mental health problems develop during childhood and
adolescence [3], only a quarter of the 10–20% of Canadian youth affected by mental
© The Author(s) 2020
M. Jmaiel et al. (Eds.): ICOST 2020, LNCS 12157, pp. 210–220, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51517-1_17