E-mental health applications for depression: an evidence-based ethical analysis
E-mental health applications (apps) are an increasingly important factor for the treatment of depression. To assess the risks and benefits for patients, an in-depth ethical analysis is necessary. The objective of this paper is to determine the ethical implications of app-based treatment for depressi...
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| Dokumenttyp: | Article (Journal) |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2021
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| In: |
European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience
Year: 2021, Jahrgang: 271, Heft: 3, Pages: 549-555 |
| ISSN: | 1433-8491 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00406-019-01093-y |
| Online-Zugang: | Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-019-01093-y Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00406-019-01093-y 
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| Verfasserangaben: | Giovanni Rubeis |
| Zusammenfassung: | E-mental health applications (apps) are an increasingly important factor for the treatment of depression. To assess the risks and benefits for patients, an in-depth ethical analysis is necessary. The objective of this paper is to determine the ethical implications of app-based treatment for depression. An evidence-based ethical analysis was conducted. The material was meta-reviews and randomized control studies (RCTs) on app-based treatment. Based on the empirical data, an ethical analysis was conducted using the 3-ACES-approach by Thornicroft and Tansella. Apps may empower autonomy, offer an uninterrupted series of contacts over a period of time, show evidence-based benefits for patients with subclinical and mild-to-moderate-symptoms, are easily accessible, may be used for coordinating information and services within an episode of care, and are on the whole cost-effective. Their risks are that they are not suitable for the whole range of severity of mental illnesses and patient characteristics, show severe deficits in the data privacy policy, and a big variability in quality standards. The use of apps in depression treatment can be beneficial for patients as long as (1) the usefulness of an app-based treatment is assessed for each individual patient, (2) apps are chosen according to symptom severity as well as characteristics like the patient's level of self-reliance, their e-literacy, and their openness vis-à-vis apps, (3) manufacturers improve their privacy policies and the quality of apps. |
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| Beschreibung: | Gesehen am 12.05.2021 |
| Beschreibung: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1433-8491 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00406-019-01093-y |