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Technology used
to enhance profession
(January
2008 Issue)
By Ami Albernaz
Given the myriad ways that technology has infiltrated everyday
life, it is perhaps not surprising that psychologists and others
interested in mental health have begun using technology to enhance
the tools of their profession. Exchanging ideas and fostering collaboration
in this still burgeoning area is the goal of the Electronic Media
& Behavior Change Interest Group, which meets four times a year
in Watertown, Mass.
"There's more interest in using computers in psychology here than
anywhere else in the world," says James A. Carter, Ph.D., a research
psychologist at the Division of Clinical Computing at the Beth Israel
Deaconess Medical Center. Carter started the group in 2003, when
he moved to Boston from Dartmouth Medical Center. Meetings have
brought together researchers and entrepreneurs interested in developing
Internet-based and multimedia diagnostic tools and intervention
programs. The meetings, which generally draw 15-20 people, have
served as networking opportunities and have given rise to business
partnerships.
At the group's last meeting, in October, Ramesh Farzanfar, Ph.D.,
presented an automated screening and intervention system she is
testing with the Medical Information Systems Unit at the Boston
University Medical Campus and Boston Medical Center. The Telephone-Linked
Care for Detection of Mental Health Disorders in the Workplace (TLC-Detect)
screens for more than 20 disorders including major and minor depression,
anxiety and panic disorders and substance abuse.
"A lot of times, employees don't ask for help from employee assistance
programs. Even though they're confidential, trust is a huge issue,"
Farzanfar says. "But if there's a computer you can talk to, people
might be more likely to use it. Computers might seem less judgmental."
Farzanfar and her colleagues are currently a few months into a
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded study of the system
through which Boston University and Boston Medical Center employees
have been screened. Of the participants reporting symptoms matching
those of a particular disorder, some were assigned to a "treatment"
condition and provided recommendations of support groups, self-help
books or relaxation techniques, with monthly follow-ups with the
system. Others were assigned to a control group and told simply
that their symptoms fit a certain condition and that they might
want to see a doctor.
The aim is to gauge the effectiveness of the treatment after six
months. (Participants in the control group will receive the recommendations
at that time). If the study is successful, Farzanfar and her colleagues
hope the system will be more widely used in organizations.
Demonstrating a different therapeutic use of technology, Marina
Bers, Ph.D., of Tufts University presented her Virtual Communities
of Learning and Care project (VCLC) at Children's Hospital Boston.
Transplant patients ages 11 to 16 can create an online city in which
they can also chat, write stories and participate in support groups
in a non-threatening environment. The goal of the project is to
use technology to help improve the lives of the young transplant
patients, through building community and helping them explore identity.
While the idea of computers replacing flesh-and-blood therapists
in assessment and intervention might seem farfetched to some, technology
can provide a great advantage, Carter says. "Patients find them
empowering and positive," he says, because, as Farzanfar noted,
they do not judge. Computers might also be less expensive than traditional
therapy. "They're a great way to extend and give treatment to the
public. If we can disseminate an intervention effectively though
a computer, then we should," Carter says.
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