Skip to main content
  • More from ADA
    • Diabetes
    • Diabetes Care
    • Clinical Diabetes
    • Standards of Medical Care
    • Scientific Sessions Abstracts
    • BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care
  • Subscribe
  • Log in
  • Follow ada on Twitter
  • RSS
  • Visit ada on Facebook
Diabetes Spectrum

Advanced Search

Main menu

  • Home
  • Current
    • Current Issue
    • Online Ahead of Print
  • Browse
    • Issue Archive
    • Recent ADA Position Statements
  • Info
    • About the Journal
    • Editors
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Journal Policies
    • For Authors
    • For Advertisers
  • Subscriptions
    • Manage Online Access
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
  • Alerts
    • E­mail Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
  • Podcasts
    • Diabetes Core Update
    • Diabetes Discovery
  • Submit
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Journal Policies
    • Instructions for Authors
  • More from ADA
    • Diabetes
    • Diabetes Care
    • Clinical Diabetes
    • Standards of Medical Care
    • Scientific Sessions Abstracts
    • BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care

User menu

  • Subscribe
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
Diabetes Spectrum
  • Home
  • Current
    • Current Issue
    • Online Ahead of Print
  • Browse
    • Issue Archive
    • Recent ADA Position Statements
  • Info
    • About the Journal
    • Editors
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Journal Policies
    • For Authors
    • For Advertisers
  • Subscriptions
    • Manage Online Access
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
  • Alerts
    • E­mail Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
  • Podcasts
    • Diabetes Core Update
    • Diabetes Discovery
  • Submit
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Journal Policies
    • Instructions for Authors
Departments

Health Information Technology in the Service of Depression Treatment

  1. Neal Kaufman, MD, MPH
Diabetes Spectrum 2010 Jan; 23(1): 5-6. https://doi.org/10.2337/diaspect.23.1.5
PreviousNext
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Patient self-management of depression and other chronic conditions supported by information technology is becoming an important factor in the way providers deliver health care. This new modality offers a remarkable opportunity for clinicians. As the From Research to Practice section in this issue of Diabetes Spectrum (p. 7-37) shows, patients with depression often need a complex set of services including psychotherapy, medication management, social support, physical activity promotion, nutrition counseling, and more. Implementing such support for individuals who are already overwhelmed can be a challenge that requires a variety of strategies. Using new online tools, clinicians can now have a major impact on depression outcomes by providing robust and affordable support to large numbers of patients who want to make emotional and behavioral changes.

Online tools can extend mental health practices and provide support through cost-effective programs that help clinicians guide their patients to better manage their depression. The best Internet self-management education and support programs are rich in pertinent content, provide engaging interactive elements, and offer users a tailored, personalized learning experience. They contain self-assessment tools and ways for individuals to monitor their performance and changes in biological measurements such as weight, blood pressure, mood, and blood glucose. Patients can access their information, input their data, and receive support 24 hours a day, at times and places most convenient for them and not limited to their clinicians' office hours.

Web-based learning and support technology benefits both clinicians and patients; patients learn to overcome barriers and to self-document activities and interactions, permitting clinicians to review their progress and feedback at any time. In addition to automating much of the educational content, this time-shifting element afforded by online tools is one of the keys to making the support process efficient and affordable. The ability to perform automated reviews of patients' activities also provides clinicians with a valuable boon to effectiveness and efficiency.

Linked with an online intervention, “virtual coaches” can provide individualized guidance and support based on readily available analyses of patients' characteristics and performance. Clinicians can communicate frequently, offering personalized email support to patients without requiring in-person meetings. Clinicians can also monitor “virtual support groups,” through which patients interact with others online via informational chat rooms and blogs. By incorporating Web-based patient self-management and support into traditional treatment methods, one clinician can effectively support many patients, one patient at a time.

Depression Interventions

As early as 2002, a work group commissioned by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health1 recommended the development of innovative mental health treatments that could be delivered at low cost to large populations. Specifically, the work group noted, “the Internet affords the opportunity to make psychosocial interventions available to large segments of the public. Interventions can be delivered programmatically and reliably, greatly extending the numbers and types of people who can be reached with services.”1

Since that 2002 report, the Internet and cell phones have been used more frequently to provide patient self-management education and support to help patients with depression and other chronic conditions meet their complex and ever-changing needs. Several reviews have summarized the depression-related experiences with a variety of these approaches.2-8

In recent years, Web- and cell phone—based approaches have been shown to be effective and inexpensive alternatives to traditional depression treatments.9-17 These and other programs use a variety of psychological approaches typically based on effective in-person interventions that have been transformed for delivery via the Internet or cell phones. Even with these successful programs as examples, the limited available evidence makes it difficult to definitively state what impact these types of interventions will have on patients with depression. Still, many of these innovative programs are quite promising.

Summary

Online self-management education and support for patients with depression have the potential to make not just an incremental difference in patient outcomes, but rather a profound change in the way providers engage with patients. To date, their use in clinical settings has been limited primarily because of the lack of reimbursement for online interventions. In the near future, clinicians may be able to use information technology, coupled with traditional treatment approaches, to support large numbers of patients with depression in an economical and feasible manner.

Footnotes

  • Neal Kaufman, MD, MPH, is the founder and chief executive officer of DPS Health in Los Angeles, Calif.

  • Note of disclosure: Dr. Kaufman is the founder, owner, and chief executive officer of DPS Health, which develops and commercializes health-promoting Internet and cell phone—based interventions.

  • American Diabetes Association(R) Inc., 2010

References

  1. ↵
    1. Hollon SD,
    2. Muñoz RF,
    3. Barlow DH,
    4. Beardslee WR,
    5. Bell CC,
    6. Bernal G,
    7. Clarke GN,
    8. Franciosi LP,
    9. Kazdin AE,
    10. Kohn L,
    11. Linehan MM,
    12. Markowitz JC,
    13. Miklowitz DJ,
    14. Persons JB,
    15. Niederehe G,
    16. Sommers D
    : Psychosocial intervention development for the prevention and treatment of depression: promoting innovation and increasing access. Biol Psychiatry 52:610-630, 2002
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
  2. ↵
    1. Griffiths KM,
    2. Calear AL,
    3. Banfield M,
    4. Tam A
    : Systematic review on Internet support groups (ISGs) and depression (2): what is known about depression ISGs? J Med Internet Res 11:e41, 2009 (doi:10.2196/jmir.1303)
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
    1. Christensen H,
    2. Griffiths KM,
    3. Farrer L
    : Adherence in Internet interventions for anxiety and depression: systematic review. J Med Internet Res 11:e13, 2009 (doi:10.2196/jmir.1194)
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
    1. Lissman TL,
    2. Boehnlein JK
    : A critical review of Internet information about depression. Psychiatr Serv 52:1046-1050, 2001
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Griffiths KM,
    2. Christensen H
    : Quality of Web-based information on treatment of depression: cross sectional survey. BMJ 321:1511-1515, 2000
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
    1. Spek V,
    2. Cuijpers P,
    3. Nyklícek I,
    4. Riper H,
    5. Keyzer J,
    6. Pop V
    : Internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy for symptoms of depression and anxiety: a meta-analysis. Psychol Med 37:319-328, 2007
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Andersson G,
    2. Cuijpers P,
    3. Carlbring P,
    4. Lindefors N
    : Effects of Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy for anxiety and mood disorders. Helix Review Series Psychiatry 9:9-14, 2007. Available online from http://carlbring.se/review_series.pdf
    OpenUrl
  3. ↵
    1. Barak A,
    2. Hen L,
    3. Boniel-Nissim M,
    4. Shapira N
    : A comprehensive review and a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of Internet-based psychotherapeutic interventions. J Technol Human Serv 26:109-160, 2008
    OpenUrl
  4. ↵
    1. van Straten A,
    2. Cuijpers P,
    3. Smits N
    : Effectiveness of a Web-based self-help intervention for symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress: randomized controlled trial. J Med Internet Res 10:e7, 2008 (doi:10.2196/jmir.954)
    OpenUrlPubMed
    1. Meyer B,
    2. Berger T,
    3. Caspar F,
    4. Beevers CG,
    5. Andersson G,
    6. Weiss M
    : Effectiveness of a novel integrative online treatment for depression (Deprexis): randomized controlled trial. J Med Internet Res 11:e15, 2009 (doi:10.2196/jmir.1151)
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
    1. Warmerdam L,
    2. van Straten A,
    3. Twisk J,
    4. Riper H,
    5. Cuijpers P
    : Internet-based treatment for adults with depressive symptoms: randomized controlled trial. J Med Internet Res 10:e44, 2008 (doi:10.2196/jmir.1094)
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
    1. Clarke G,
    2. Reid E,
    3. Eubanks D,
    4. O'Connor E,
    5. DeBar LL,
    6. Kelleher C,
    7. Lynch F,
    8. Nunley S
    : Overcoming Depression on the Internet (ODIN): a randomized controlled trial of an Internet depression skills intervention program. J Med Internet Res 4:e14, 2002 (doi:10.2196/jmir.4.3.e14)
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
    1. Christensen H,
    2. Griffiths KM,
    3. Jorm AF
    : Delivering interventions for depression by using the Internet: randomised controlled trial. BMJ 328:265, 2004 (doi:10.1136/bmj.37945.566632.EE)
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
    1. Christensen H,
    2. Griffiths KM,
    3. Korten AE,
    4. Brittliffe K,
    5. Groves C
    : A comparison of changes in anxiety and depression symptoms of spontaneous users and trial participants of a cognitive behavior therapy website. J Med Internet Res 6:e46, 2004 (doi:10.2196/jmir.6.4.e46)
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
    1. Evolution Health
    : Welcome to Depression Center Beta 3.0 [article online]. Available from http://www.depressioncenter.net/Default.aspx. Accessed 30 December 2009
    1. Andersson G,
    2. Bergström J,
    3. Holländare F,
    4. Carlbring P,
    5. Kaldo V,
    6. Ekselius L
    : Internet-based self-help for depression: randomised controlled trial. Br J Psychiatry 187:456-461, 2005
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  5. ↵
    1. MoodGYM
    : Interactive Web program designed to prevent depression. Available online from http://moodgym.anu.edu.au/welcome
View Abstract
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this Issue

January 2010, 23(1)
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by Author
Sign up to receive current issue alerts
View Selected Citations (0)
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about Diabetes Spectrum.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Health Information Technology in the Service of Depression Treatment
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Diabetes Spectrum
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the Diabetes Spectrum web site.
Citation Tools
Health Information Technology in the Service of Depression Treatment
Neal Kaufman
Diabetes Spectrum Jan 2010, 23 (1) 5-6; DOI: 10.2337/diaspect.23.1.5

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Add to Selected Citations
Share

Health Information Technology in the Service of Depression Treatment
Neal Kaufman
Diabetes Spectrum Jan 2010, 23 (1) 5-6; DOI: 10.2337/diaspect.23.1.5
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Depression Interventions
    • Summary
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

Departments

  • Erratum: Endoscopic Medical Devices for Primary Obesity Treatment in Patients With Diabetes. Diabetes Spectrum 2017;30;258–264 (DOI:10.2337/ds017-0046)
  • Erratum: Multidisciplinary Team–Based Obesity Treatment in Patients With Diabetes: Current Practices and the State of the Science. Diabetes Spectrum 2017;30:244–249 (DOI: 10.2337/ds17-0045)
  • Timely News for the Multidisciplinary Care Team
Show more 3

Editorial

  • Clinical Challenges With Concentrated Insulins: Setting the Record Straight
  • Insulin in America: A Right or a Privilege?
  • Prandial Insulin Dosing: How Long Does It Take to Go 80 Miles?
Show more 3

Similar Articles

Navigate

  • Current Issue
  • Papers in Press
  • Archives
  • Submit
  • Subscribe
  • Email Alerts
  • RSS Feeds

More Information

  • About the Journal
  • Instructions for Authors
  • Journal Policies
  • Reprints and Permissions
  • Privacy Notice/Terms of Use
  • Advertising
  • Copyright Notice and Public Access Policy
  • Contact Us

Other ADA Resources

  • Diabetes
  • Diabetes Care
  • Clinical Diabetes
  • Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes
  • BMJ Open - Diabetes Research & Care
  • Professional Books
  • Diabetes Forecast

 

  • DiabetesJournals.org
  • Diabetes Core Update
  • ADA's DiabetesPro
  • ADA Member Directory
  • Diabetes.org

© 2018 by the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes Spectrum Print ISSN: 1040-9165, Online ISSN: 1944-7353.