Seminar: Health Consumer Operated IT for Mental Health & Lifestyle e-Screening and e-Therapy

Title:

Seminar: Health Consumer Operated IT for Mental Health & Lifestyle e-Screening and e-Therapy

Language:

English

Speaker:

Professor Jim Warren
Professor of Health Informatics, Department of Computer Science. The University of Auckland.

Abstract:

As populations become more IT literate there is tremendous potential in the health consumer (or ‘patient’ if you prefer) as a direct user of health IT systems. This is particularly true with respect to mental health and lifestyle issues. The health consumer can answer many questions about themselves, functioning as electronic screening (e-screening) for feedback to themselves and to clinicians. Further, consumers can undertake activities that directly influence their mental health, such as by using online cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) based apps, including gamified ones. Prof Warren will present case studies around eCHAT (the electronic Case-finding and Help Assessment Tool), a modular Web-based consumer-operated e-screening system, including use by young people (YouthCHAT) and veterans (VetCHAT). He will also present the architecture of the HABITS (Health Advances through Behavioural Intervention Technology Systems) programme; HABITS combines YouthCHAT screening with an online portal and suite of e-therapy tools for New Zealand youth mental health.

About the Speaker:

Jim Warren is Professor Health Informatics at the University of Auckland, based in the Department of Computer Science. He specialises in design and evaluation of information systems to support long-term condition management. He has worked extensively with the National Institute for Health Innovation (NIHI) at the University’s School of Population Health. With NIHI he has consulted on implementation of New Zealand’s national health IT plan in areas including electronic referrals, shared care planning systems and information architecture. His current work includes statistical modelling and machine learning to improve understanding of cardiovascular disease risk in New Zealand (through the Health Research Council programme Vascular Informatics and Epidemiology using the Web, VIEW 2020) and development of an IT platform for coordinated screening and e‑therapy to support mental health of New Zealand youth (under the National Science Challenge, ‘A Better Start – e Tipu e Rea’). For over 10 years he has worked with the Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care on a consumer-operated health and lifefstyle e-screening tool, eCHAT (the electronic Case-finding and Help Assessment Tool). He has been engaged with Health Informatics New Zealand (HINZ), the member body for New Zealand of the International Medical Informatics Association, as three-time conference chair (2006-2008) and overall chair of the organisation (2008-2010) and has served on New Zealand’s health informatics standards body. He is a Foundation Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Informatics.