Advancing digital sensing in mental health research: The workshop behind the paper

Our Perspective report draws on ideation and reports generated from the 2023 Workshop on Advancing Digital Sensing Tools for Mental Health, hosted by UCLA and sponsored by Wellcome, the National Institute of Mental Health and the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge.
Advancing digital sensing in mental health research: The workshop behind the paper
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Digital sensing tools, like smartphones and wearables, offer transformative potential for mental health research by enabling scalable, longitudinal data collection — but realizing this promise requires overcoming significant challenges: limited data standards, underpowered studies, and a disconnect between research aims and community needs.

It was clear that, to harness this potential and ensure rigorous, equitable and impactful research, we as researchers must first delineate obstacles that were impeding progress in this field, and then identify and implement practical steps to overcome these obstacles.

The 2023 Workshop on Advancing Digital Sensing Tools for Mental Health addressed both steps, forming the basis of our Perspective report, which highlights key objectives that the field of digital mental health research must meet to fulfill its promise. This Behind the Paper report shares some of the background of how we got here.

Taking inspiration from mid-2000s working groups that successfully stimulated and improved the field of human genomics, the Feb. 2023 workshop brought together 53 thought leaders drawn from academia, industry, funding and regulatory agencies, and groups representing individuals living with mental health disorders. The workshop was hosted by UCLA and sponsored by Wellcome, the National Institute of Mental Health and the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge.

The workshop participants considered the obstacles to sensor-based assessments across three broad levels: digital infrastructure and data flow, study design and reporting, and user perspectives. Workshop participants met in different workgroups that identified obstacles and proposed solutions specific to each of these levels and produced reports that were made available for public comment.

This workshop and the affiliated reports have proven remarkably generative, making not only our Perspective report possible but also catalyzing a Wellcome request for proposals and subsequent forming of a research consortium to conduct scoping research that will inform investment in digital sensing research for mental health, as well as a Notice of Funding Opportunity to standardize data and metadata from wearable devices from the NIMH (PAR-24-250).

It is our hope that in publishing these objectives in npj Digital Medicine that we can continue — and accelerate — the investment and concerted efforts that will enable mental health research to achieve the groundbreaking advancements that digital sensing technology has rendered possible.

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Mental Health
Humanities and Social Sciences > Behavioral Sciences and Psychology > Clinical Psychology > Mental Health
Biological Sensors and Probes
Life Sciences > Biological Sciences > Biological Techniques > Biological Sensors and Probes
Wearable Technology
Life Sciences > Health Sciences > Clinical Medicine > Biomedical Devices and Instrumentation > Wearable Technology
Wearable Technology
Technology and Engineering > Biological and Physical Engineering > Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering > Biomedical Devices and Instrumentation > Wearable Technology
  • npj Digital Medicine npj Digital Medicine

    An online open-access journal dedicated to publishing research in all aspects of digital medicine, including the clinical application and implementation of digital and mobile technologies, virtual healthcare, and novel applications of artificial intelligence and informatics.

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