The COVID-19 outbreak leveraged digital technologies in a variety of contexts. Telemedicine was one of those areas, with decades of tentative changes being implemented in weeks. The benefits obtained suggest that it is here to stay, since it allows for significant improvements in patient diagnosis and follow-up procedures, namely, in the rationalization of available human and material resources. In mental health, telemedicine is especially appropriate because it reduces the traveling efforts of patients to the hospital and eliminates potential social barriers, without significantly reducing contact with the medical team. In particular, for the follow-up of psychiatric patients with depression it is a disruptive approach, due to the nature of the pathology.
This symposium entitled “Technology-based tools to study the clinical course, enhance clinical assessment and evaluate new therapeutic interventions in affective disorders”, presented the latest development and future perspectives in the aforementioned topics, through a panel of renowned experts in the field.
Dr. Heleen Riper, from the VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands, talked about the barriers and facilitating factors to the implementation of eMental health. Afterwards, Dr. Miguel Constante, from Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Portugal, presented his insights on remote patient monitoring, standardized testing and video-consultation in psychiatric assessment. DBE Prof. João Sanches from ISR/IST, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, followed through with a more technical perspective with his talk on technological platforms for remote consultation and monitoring in psychiatry. Dr. Nils Opel, from the University of Münster, Germany introduced his work on the use of smartphone technology for the investigation of longitudinal disease trajectories in affective disorders”. Finally, Dr. Tim Hahn from the University of Münster, closed the event by talking about the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to mental health. The symposium was moderated by DBE Researcher Hugo Plácido da Silva, from IT – Instituto de Telecomunicações.