Centre for research-based innovation on Mobile Mental Health (ForHelse)

Research Centre for Digital Mental Health Services (Forhelse SFI) has achieved significant results during 2023. The results include various types of dissemination, academic outcomes, and value creation among partners in healthcare and business related to the centre's main goal: to increase the use and impact of digital health services. Forhelse SFI is investigating four key research questions related to digital psychological and somatic treatments: First, is it effective (Work Package 1: Effectiveness), second, is it cost-effective (Work Package 2: Cost-effectiveness), Third, should we invest in it (Work Package 3: Early Health Technology Assessment, HTA), and fourth, how should we implement it (Work Package 4: Implementation)? These four research questions are linked to four work packages, each further divided into sub-projects. This organizational structure ensures a comprehensive exploration and elucidation of the questions from diverse viewpoints. Additionally, the project includes two work packages dedicated to communication and management. The following are examples of how results from research and innovation activities in the centre have been applied by participating business and healthcare partners in 2023: · The "UngSpotlight" app - a self-help program for youth afraid of speaking in front of the class - has been approved by The Norwegian Directorate of Health and is now available through the governmental website Ung.no. UngSpotlight was developed in collaboration between Helse Bergen and Youwell AS. · "Min ADHD" is a self-help program for individuals with ADHD developed in the ICT project Intromat (2016-2020) at Helse Bergen. Min ADHD has now been adapted for use in specialized healthcare as a guided internet treatment through collaboration between Youwell AS, the department of eMeistring, and Forhelse SFI. · In 2023, Helse Sør-Øst issued an invitation to bid for a platform for web-based treatment in the field of digital healthcare services, which was won by Youwell AS. It includes an option for other hospital trusts to connect to the agreement. This allows the Youwell platform to be used in hospital trusts throughout Norway. This can contribute to Forhelse SFI's overarching goal of increasing the use and impact of digital health services. · The "Modi" app - a six-week coping course for youth developed as a mobile application based on cognitive therapy, has been developed through collaboration between user partners Youwell AS and Bergen municipality, led by Helse Bergen's Ph.D. Smiti Kahlon. By the end of 2023, 15 out of 30 youths have been recruited into the first effectiveness study. Future plans include examining the effectiveness of Modi in Bergen Municipality in a randomized controlled trial. If proven effective, the plan is to implement the coping course in Bergen Municipality by 2025. · Results from the cost-effectiveness study of the "Mamma Mia" app (a preventive program for postnatal depression) have been submitted as a publication to the journal PharmacoEconomics. In the study, Ph.D. candidate Zareen Abbas Khan developed a new framework for calculating costs associated with digital health services. The new framework is planned to be used in subsequent cost-effectiveness studies in the centre. What is new about the framework is that it includes training and implementation costs to a greater extent, which is particularly important in facing the shortage of healthcare personnel. · Due to The Norwegian Directorate of Health ending the licensing and access to Mamma Mia (preventive program for postnatal depression) via helsenorge.no, Changetech AS requested a preliminary cost-effectiveness evaluation of the app. The cost-effectiveness work package in Forhelse SFI, along with the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental health, Eastern and Southern Norway (RBUP), decided to write the note "Continued broad access to the Mamma Mia app will provide valuable new knowledge and experience." The note includes a preliminary analysis of the cost-effectiveness of the Mamma Mia app and looks at possible gains measured in the currency NOK. Based on this work, it has been decided that The Norwegian Directorate of Health will license and thus make the Mamma Mia app available via Helsenorge.no for three more years. · The sub-project working on the implementation of the Modi app in Bergen Municipality has completed and delivered a report to Bergen Municipality: "Perspectives of healthcare workers on digital mental health interventions for adolescents with anxiety: a mixed method pre-implementation study". The report provides recommendations for Bergen Municipality's implementation of digital mental health services for youth with anxiety and forms the basis for further collaboration with Bergen municipality regarding the Modi app.

The primary objective of the Centre for research-based innovation on Mobile Mental Health (CMMH) is to increase the use and impact of digital psychological interventions. The goal is to have a minimum of 15% of all psychological interventions accessed digitally by 2025, growing to 20 % by 2030. This will increase access to evidence-based mental health care and have a substantial positive impact on health outcomes, burden of disease, healthcare costs, eHealth industry and society as a whole. There is a large body of evidence documenting the efficacy of digital psychological interventions for highly prevalent mental disorders (e.g., depression and anxiety) and other health disorders (e.g., pain, irritable bowel syndrome, and cancer). Digitalization of the healthcare services are needed in order to meet future needs for effective and sustainable healthcare services. However, the current use of digital healthcare services in routine care is low, and their impact on the industry, healthcare, and society is limited. CMMH will move the research on digital psychological interventions from the interventions themselves, to research on the impact of the interventions in real world settings. CMMH will promote innovation and sustainable value creation as we will conduct beyond state-of-the-art research on effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, early assessment of innovation potential and effective implementation strategies. CMMH bring together the five most ambitious and relevant eHealth businesses in Norway, four national and international leading groups of researchers in the domain of innovative digital healthcare services in Norway and in Europe, five public healthcare services with nationally leading positions in the domain of digitalization, one innovative private non-profit healthcare service integrating mental and somatic health services, and therapists and patients with first-hand experience with digital interventions.