Online Program

335135
Maintaining the Human Perspective in Behavioral Health Tool Development and Adaptation for Digital Media


Tuesday, November 3, 2015 : 2:50 p.m. - 3:10 p.m.

Douglas Jacobs, MD, Screening for Mental health, Wellesley Hills, MA
Digital solutions, such as mobile applications (apps) and responsive website designs, are becoming increasingly commonplace as tools to support behavioral health and primary care clinical practice. However, this new frontier of cutting-edge resources has the potential to silence the voice of the client, or interfere with the maintenance of the therapeutic relationship between the provider and consumer. At their least effective, digital solutions have the potential to put functional and technical requirements before considerations for the end-user clinician or client in crisis.

This presentation is part of a panel discussion exploring how the perspective of the client/patient may be kept central to the development and creation of a digital solution to support best practices in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of behavioral health concerns. The session will use the example of the development of a mobile app - SAMHSA's "Suicide SAFE"- to improve suicide assessment approaches amongst behavioral health and primary care clinicians. The panelists have all been involved in various aspects of the app development.

This particular presentation will describe approaches employed to keep  the needs of the client central during the development of Behavioral Health tools, such as the SAFE-T. In addition, we will discuss considerations in maintaining the voice of the client/patient while adapting the Behavioral Health tools for digital media, specifically the Suicide SAFE mobile app.

Learning Areas:

Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Chronic disease management and prevention
Diversity and culture
Other professions or practice related to public health
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Identify considerations for the development of client-centered tools to support Behavioral Health clinical practice. Describe how formative research approaches can keep the perspective and needs of the client central to the development of a digital solution to a clinical challenge in behavioral health.

Keyword(s): Suicide, Screening Instruments

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Douglas Jacobs MD is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on developing assessment and treatment protocols, and toolkits addressing suicide and depression. He is Chairperson, American Psychiatric Association's Work Group on "Practice Guideline for the Assessment and Treatment of Patients with Suicidal Behaviors." Working with SAMHSA, he developed SAFE-T (Suicide Assessment Five-Step Evaluation and Triage. Dr. Jacobs spearheaded 'National Depression Screening Day' (sponsored by advocacy groups and the American Psychiatric Association).
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.