The use of technology to guarantee an employee’s physical and mental health is known as digital wellness. Despite the fact that employees depend on their computers and the internet to do their work, mental Well-being Digitally aims to create technology that encourages healthy use and actively helps users maintain a healthy lifestyle. The excessive usage of social media while working is a typical illustration of how technology may negatively impact employees.
Digital wellness, however, encompasses more than merely encouraging staff members to put down their phones occasionally. They might consider how their possible problematic connection with technology impacts other elements of their lives from a holistic perspective.
Digital Mental Health
Although well over half of people with mental illnesses have access to smartphones, over half of individuals who suffer from mental illnesses worldwide do not have access to therapy. This startling revelation emphasises the paradigm shift in mental health treatment that psychiatry is well-positioned to spearhead (mHealth).
Digital mental health, or mHealth, is defined in many ways, but here we concentrate on asynchronous mobile technologies such as email, online forums, text messaging, and smartphone apps. By providing easy, patient-driven access to mental health assistance and self-management tools, mHealth aims to enhance health outcomes.
These days, encouraging patient self-help and enhancing clinical care with data and doctor consultation are the two main purposes for mHealth apps. Although there are possible benefits and drawbacks to digital solutions, they can also deepen the therapeutic partnership and enhance clinical results while reducing expenses.
An overview of the main things psychiatrists should keep in mind while using mobile health (mHealth) technologies is provided below. This introduction is followed by our whole resource document:
The mHealth App Landscape: With over 10,000 applications pertaining to mental health and 90,000 new digital health apps produced in 2020 alone, the app ecosystem is continuously changing. These applications may be used for a wide range of tasks, including recording symptoms, creating habits or changing specific behaviours, providing peer support, and more. While many “health and wellness” applications are aimed at self-help without guidance, there are occasions when these apps are supposed to be used as an auxiliary in conjunction with a mental health expert.
Comprehending the Hardware Considerations in Technology: A few simple inquiries can help clinicians determine whether a patient has access to hardware. These include whether the patient feels comfortable utilising a data plan or has access to a mobile device with reliable internet.
Software points to remember: Other factors to take into account are: does the app function on the patient’s device or operating system? if the app can function offline or whether the patient has internet connection; and If the patient’s digital literacy level and any necessary modifications (such as suitability for their culture, language, or visual impairments) can be met by the app.
Taking Care of Technology and App Literacy: Processes for onboarding and change management should extend beyond the app and cover help with more fundamental tech needs like battery charging, accessibility, device security, and data privacy.
Access and Digital Inclusion: Seven percent of American people reported not using the internet in 2021. Digital inclusion in the context of health and mental health refers to making sure a person has the information, self-assurance, and abilities necessary to interact with digital health services on a range of media and platforms. Educating peer specialists to be digital navigators is one way to increase digital literacy.
Fit Quality: Examining Available Applications: When selecting an app to suggest for patient usage, psychiatrists and other healthcare professionals can find advice from the American Psychological Association’s expert consensus-driven App Evaluation Model. The following are some of the hierarchy criteria: clinical evidence, simplicity of use, interoperability, privacy and security concerns, dangers, and basic information about the app and its creator.
A Legal and Ethical Perspective: When in doubt, decision-making can be guided by the fundamental medical ethical concepts of beneficence, nonmaleficence, fairness, and autonomy.
Why does digital well-being matter?
Employee engagement and productivity are increased, and they may live better lives both within and outside of the workplace, thanks to digital wellness. Employees may concentrate more on their job and experience less fatigue and distraction by using digital health practices. Workers who check their smartphones once every ten minutes, for instance, are not as productive as those who check them three or four times a day.
Overuse of technology can have detrimental impacts on employees who don’t pay attention to their digital wellbeing. Employee stress and anxiety may also rise as a result of this reliance. Employees who experience burnout are less likely to provide high-quality work and are more likely to experience deterioration in their emotional and physical well-being. Employees may reduce these dangers by concentrating on their digital wellness.
Some firms are creating less disruptive features or offering the option to disable annoying notifications in response to calls for applications and technologies that respect people’s time. Companies are also creating new apps to track digital wellbeing and collect data, such as how much time users spend using various apps on screens. They aid in reducing undesirable screen time or encouraging more thoughtful usage of technology by the user.
Technologies for digital well-being: examples
A number of apps for digital wellbeing are available to assist users in understanding their connections with technology.
For instance, a few applications for digital wellbeing can figure out how many hours a day workers spend gazing at screens. The digital health software may notify users when it’s time for a break if an employee goes over a certain time limit.
Digital wellness technology may also include productivity tools, such as smartphone notifications that may be silenced so workers can put their phones on Do Not Disturb. This turns off all incoming alerts, including phone calls. The emails and messages that staff members receive in this mode are kept in the notification areas of their devices.
For Android device owners looking to strike a balance between technology and their needs, Google provides a Digital Wellbeing app. One function that employs the Do Not Disturb option to quiet all alerts, including phone calls, is Google Wind Down, which turns the screen monochrome at a predetermined bedtime. Setting time limitations for how long they use their gadgets or applications and seeing comprehensive data about their phone usage are both possible with the help of timers.
Benefits of Mental Well-being Digitally
There are several advantages to integrating mindfulness applications into regular activities. Users frequently report significant decreases in stress, improved attention and focus, and better sleep quality. These applications are a desirable choice for anyone looking for holistic well-being because of their beneficial effects on mental health.
In what ways may employers support their employees’ digital well-being?
People are having difficulty striking a good work-life balance as remote work becomes more common and employees spend less time in their actual workplaces.
Employers can thus assist their employees in striking this equilibrium. Companies can establish some digital ground rules, such as the following, to promote employee digital wellness:
Encourage employees to turn off. Managers can specify the requirements for employee availability. Unless they have urgent concerns to address, they might advise coworkers not to contact one other for work-related topics during this period. Workers have the option to turn off notifications on every device they own.
Cut down on non-essential conversations. Employees’ digital wellbeing is adversely affected when they are overloaded with communications, especially email, even if communication among coworkers, supervisors, and employees is crucial. Due to the time lost from their job to reply to emails and other correspondence, this leads to needless stress. Employers ought to advise staff members to restrict non-essential emails, as not every correspondence is that crucial.
Cut back on virtual meetings. Although video conferencing is essential in today’s digital workplaces, a lot of workers experience video call weariness. Online meetings may be time-saving and a great way for staff members to interact with one another, but they can also be very taxing because participation needs to be continuous and vigorous. To lower stress, businesses should designate at least one day each week for meetings to be held without interruption.
lessen eye strain in people who use devices often. Eye strain can be reduced with products like glare-reducing lenses that fit over glasses or dark panels that cover screens. Also, there are guidelines for the ideal distance between the eyes and the screen, the size of the information on the screen, the settings and resolution to be used, and the frequency of eye rest periods.
Be mindful of unanticipated effects on mental health. Social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram include features that are detrimental to mental health, such as the never-ending scroll. This has been linked to impulsivity, poor time management, anxiety, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Internet addiction has also been linked to these conditions.
summary
In the digital era, mindfulness applications have proven to be extremely useful resources for improving mental health. With so many possibilities, people may discover an app that works for them and incorporate it into their everyday lives to benefit from lower stress levels, better attention, and overall improved mental health.
Q&As for Mental Well-being Digitally
Do all users benefit from mindfulness apps?
In general, a broad spectrum of people can benefit from mindfulness applications. To select the best software, you must investigate several options because everyone has various demands and tastes.
To get the most out of mindfulness applications, how often should one use them?
Individual schedules and tastes determine how frequently something is used. Some users might prefer a more sporadic approach, while others might find regular sessions to be beneficial.
Can apps for mindfulness take on the role of licenced mental health services?
Although mindfulness applications can be a useful addition to mental health services, they cannot take the place of expert assistance. Those who have significant mental health issues ought to speak with a mental health expert.
Are applications for mindfulness available for free?
Yes, a lot of applications for mindfulness are available in free versions with limited capabilities. Before deciding to purchase the premium editions, users might investigate these choices.
What developments in the field of mindfulness applications might we anticipate?
More individualised features, deeper wearable technology integration, and developments in artificial intelligence might be seen in mindfulness applications in the future.
For instance, a few applications for digital wellbeing can figure out how many hours a day workers spend gazing at screens. The digital health software may notify users when it’s time for a break if an employee goes over a certain time limit.
Digital wellness technology may also include productivity tools, such as smartphone notifications that may be silenced so workers can put their phones on Do Not Disturb. This turns off all incoming alerts, including phone calls. The emails and messages that staff members receive in this mode are kept in the notification areas of their devices.
For Android device owners looking to strike a balance between technology and their needs, Google provides a Digital Wellbeing app. One function that employs the Do Not Disturb option to quiet all alerts, including phone calls, is Google Wind Down, which turns the screen monochrome at a predetermined bedtime. Setting time limitations for how long they use their gadgets or applications and seeing comprehensive data about their phone usage are both possible with the help of timers.