Innovations in Global Mental Health

Innovations in Global Mental Health

In 2019, TeleEEG was invited by Dr. Sam O. Okpaku M.D., Ph.D., Editor in Chief, to write a chapter about TeleEEG for the Springer Reference publication ‘Innovations in Global Mental Health’.

The publication uniquely takes the form of a LIVE manuscript which is now published:

Innovations in Global Mental Health
– Role of Technology 
Helping Epilepsy Diagnosis in the Developing World Through TeleEEG
https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-70134-9_126-1

The full printed version can be sourced here: 
https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030572952#aboutBook 

Abstract

UK Charity TeleEEG has proven a scalable and lean deployment model, enabling consultant physicians specializing in epilepsy diagnosis by EEG to volunteer as a virtual global team donating basic EEG equipment and skills. It was established in 2011, for the benefit of patients based in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) who are suffering the long-term effects of an average 75% epilepsy treatment gap affecting neonates to octogenarians totaling 50,000,000 people worldwide. TeleEEG is delivering innovations in working practice, devices, consumables, and processes, underpinned by technology and adapting advances in machine learning.

We are deeply grateful to Dr Okpaku for having selected TeleEEG as an exemplar global project, through our use of technology, to enable people to collaborate and overcome some of the challenges faced by clinics in under-resourced countries.

Introduction: To quote from the book’s about page:

“Over the course of the last decade, political and mental entities at large have embraced global mental health: the idea that psychiatric health is vital to improved quality of life.  Physicians globally have implemented guidelines recommended by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in 2007, thereby breaking down barriers to care and improving quality of life in areas where these practices have been implemented.  Programs for training and education have expanded as a result.  Clinicians benefit more from both local resources in some regions as well as in international collaboration and technological advancements. Even amidst all of these positive outcomes, clinicians still face some stumbling blocks.  With worldwide statistics estimating that 450 million people struggle with mental, neuropsychiatric, and neurological disorders—25 percent of the world’s non-communicable disease burden—rising to these challenges prove to be no small feat, even in wealthy Western nations.

Various articles and books have been published on global mental health, but few of them thoroughly cover the clinical, research, innovative, and social implications as they pertain to psychiatry; often, only one of these aspects is covered.  A comprehensive text that can keep pace with the rapidly evolving literature grows more and more valuable each day as clinicians struggle to piece together the changes around the world that leave open the possibility for improved outcomes in care.This book seeks to boldly rectify this situation by identifying innovative models of service delivery, training, education, research funding, and payment systems that have proven to be exemplary in implementation and scalability or have potential for scalability.  Chapters describe specific barriers and challenges, illuminating effective strategies for improved outcomes.

This text is the first peer-reviewed resource to gather prestigious physicians in global mental health from around the world and disseminate their expertise in the medical community at large in a format that is updateable, making it a truly cutting-edge resource in a world constantly changed by medical, scientific, and technological advances.Innovations in Global Mental Health is the ultimate resource for psychiatrists, psychologists, primary care physicians, hospitalists, policy makers, and all medical professionals at the forefront of global mental health and its implications for the future.”

We hope that you will enjoy reading about TeleEEG, our history, endeavours, challenges and collective achievements.

Please let us know your thoughts and if you find this a helpful resource, do share it where possible to help raise awareness.

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