Blog

Save the date for our
5th Annual e-Mental Health Conference:
Youth e-Mental Health - new ways of caring
 
Few people were able to predict the far-reaching consequences of the personal computer and the Internet. Unfettered access to the world-wide-web has not only changed the ways we communicate, learn, work and play, but has also changed our lifestyles.

Today the vast majority of young people use smartphones as both their main access to the web, and also as a universal communication/entertainment device. The advent of mobile applications for smartphones has had significant impact. By combining active and passive monitoring, apps can be an important tool for personal improvement. They can improve education and knowledge transfer, help manage daily life, and also improve users’ health and lifestyle choices.  Yet despite the explosion in the number of health and lifestyle-related apps for the individual, web-based tools and solutions remain the exception in healthcare rather than the norm.

The purpose of this conference is to continue the discussion on shifting paradigms in healthcare delivery through the use of new technologies. This year the focus is on youth and young people, a population who are familiar with technology and who could be well served by online treatment paradigms. We want to bring together researchers, developers, clinicians and young people with lived experiences on a level playing field; get a good understanding of available tools and solutions; and discuss the healthcare delivery of tomorrow.

The education system has an important role to play in this context so we want to present and discuss cutting-edge developments in Canadian and international universities regarding campus based e-Mental Health (EMH). In countries like Australia, the Netherlands and Sweden, a lot of funding and energy has been expended on web-based mental health solutions, and we want to share them with you and invite everybody to learn from their best practices.

This conference plans to go beyond usual knowledge transfer. If you want to empower young people you need to give them a forum; if you want lived experience to inform the future of healthcare development then individuals with lived experience need to have a voice in the discussion. Be part of the dialogue. Whether you’re a clinician working with young people; a student; a teacher; a developer; a researcher; a decision-maker, or a politician. Join us and be part of the solution.

Topics of special attention will include: campus based solutions for youth mental health, International experiences and models for youth EMH, and a range of tools for a range of needs – new technologies in support of mental health delivery.

Hope to see you

Dr. Michael Krausz
Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences/UBC Dept. of Psychiatry

REGISTER HERE