Abstract
The proliferation of mobile, online, and remote monitoring technologies in digital
geriatric mental health has the potential to lead to the next major breakthrough in
mental health treatments. Unlike traditional mental health services, digital geriatric
mental health has the benefit of serving a large number of older adults, and in many
instances, does not rely on mental health clinics to offer real-time interventions.
As technology increasingly becomes essential in the everyday lives of older adults
with mental health conditions, these technologies will provide a fundamental service
delivery strategy to support older adults’ mental health recovery. Although ample
research on digital geriatric mental health is available, fundamental gaps in the
scientific literature still exist. To begin to address these gaps, we propose the
following recommendations for a future research agenda: 1) additional proof-of-concept
studies are needed; 2) integrating engineering principles in methodologically rigorous
research may help science keep pace with technology; 3) studies are needed that identify
implementation issues; 4) inclusivity of people with a lived experience of a mental
health condition can offer valuable perspectives and new insights; and 5) formation
of a workgroup specific for digital geriatric mental health to set standards and principles
for research and practice. We propose prioritizing the advancement of digital geriatric
mental health research in several areas that are of great public health significance,
including 1) simultaneous and integrated treatment of physical health and mental health conditions; 2) effectiveness studies
that explore diagnostics and treatment of social determinants of health such as “social
isolation” and “loneliness;” and 3) tailoring the development and testing of innovative
strategies to minority older adult populations.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 23, 2019
Accepted:
May 20,
2019
Received in revised form:
May 17,
2019
Received:
April 10,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
