Learnings from implementation of trials using technology-enabled mental health interventions in India (Preprint)

BACKGROUND There is an increase in the use of technology enabled interventions for delivering mental health care in different settings. Technological solutions have been advocated to increase access to care especially in primary healthcare settings in LMICS to facilitate task-sharing given the lack of trained mental health professionals. This paper describes the experiences of using technology in implementing mental health projects among adults and adolescents in rural and urban settings of India. OBJECTIVE This paper aims to describes the experiences of using technology in implementing mental health projects among adults and adolescents in India METHODS The overall description of the technological frameworks used for the different studies is given in detail. This includes the mobile applications that were used to collect data and the use of the database to store the data that was collected. The different electronic decision support systems that were employed and the enhancements made to the mobile applications and the database level are illustrated. RESULTS Development of descriptive analytics at the database level, enabling offline and online data storage modalities ,customizing the OPEN MRS platform to suit the study requirements, modifying the encryption settings thereby making the system more secure, merging different applications for simultaneous data collection were some of the enhancements made across different projects. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, the development of the applications are subject to the context and the area where they would be implemented. This paper outlines the need for careful testing using an iterative process that may support future research suing similar technology.