Monsenso participates in MENTBEST – a European community-based and personalised digital intervention project

Monsenso participates in MENTBEST – a European community-based and personalised digital intervention project

by | May 4, 2023 | News

The new European intervention project MENTBEST will deliver an innovative and comprehensive community-based intervention programme and a personalised digital application based on Monsenso’s solution to prevent and mitigate the mental health challenges associated with dramatic and rapid change in Europe. 

European societies are severely impacted by global trends such as war, economic crisis, climate changes, migration, pandemics, and ageing population. These megatrends can negatively affect people’s psychological health and wellbeing – with vulnerable groups being at particular risk. Thus scalable intervention programmes are needed to build resilience and enhance self-help competency to prevent mental illness.

Therefore, the European Union is funding the design and delivery of validated community-based interventions and innovative technologies to empower individuals from vulnerable groups to better manage mental health challenges associated with dramatic and rapid change in Europe. During the MENTBEST project, interventions will be delivered to communities in five different countries, namely Albania, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, and Spain. The project is led by the European Alliance Against Depression, and includes a consortium of 14 European partners with an extensive range of expertise. 

As part of the intervention project, an AI-enabled app based on Monsenso’s digital health platform will be developed and trialed to help prevent mental illness among high-risk groups, particularly migrants/refugees, older people, younger people, long-term unemployed, and those already struggling with their mental health. The goal of the AI-enabled personalised self-care program is to allow vulnerable people to use their long-term smartphone-generated data to support their mental health self-management. 

“The ambition of MENTBEST is to increase resilience and self-help competencies of people most often left behind in times of rapid and dramatic societal changes.”, explains Professor Ulrich Hegerl, MENTBEST Project Coordinator and President of the European Alliance Against Depression.

“Timely access to evidence-based support has the potential to empower vulnerable people to reduce the risk of developing mental illnesses. We are looking forward to participating in MENTBEST and expanding our platform to provide personalised, AI-driven self-care programs to people at high risk of facing difficulties with their mental health.”, says Thomas Lethenborg, CEO at Monsenso. 

The MENTBEST app will be trialed in Denmark, Germany, and Spain under the leadership of Professor Lars Kessing and Associate Professor Maria Faurholt-Jepsen from Mental Health Services of the Capital Region of Denmark.

“The project builds on our year-long research experience with digital mental health for more severe mental health illnesses. We see great potential in digital, data-driven mental health also for mild to moderate conditions and consequently look forward to driving the digital intervention part of the MENTBEST project with Monsenso”, says Maria Faurholt-Jepsen, Associate professor at Mental Health Services in the Capital Region of Denmark.

Facts
Project title: MENTBEST
Total budget: DKK 52.1 mio.
Net contribution to Monsenso: DKK 5.7 mio.
Duration: 5 years

About the partners
The project is led by the European Alliance Against Depression. The consortium entails leading experts in mental health promotion, resilience, wellbeing and primary prevention of disorders, mental disorders and suicide prevention, mental health in the workplace, mental health in children and adolescents, mental health in old age and experts in e-mental health and support technology, public policy, public education and evaluation. The consortium members are European Alliance Against Depression Ev, Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (Portugal), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), National Suicide Research Foundation (Ireland), Region Hovedstaden (Denmark), Det Nationale Forskningscenter for Arbejdsmiljø (Denmark), Eesti-Rootsi Vaimse Tervise ja Suitsidoloogia Instituut (Estonia), Stiftung Deutsche Depressionshilfe Und Suizidpraevention (Germany), Qendres Se Shendetit Dhe Mireqenies Komunitare (Albania), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), Pintail Ltd (Ireland), Kentro Erevnon Notioanatolikis Evropis Astiki Mi Kerdoskopiki Etaireia (Greece), and Fundacio Institut Hospital del Mar D’Investigacions Mèdiques (Spain).

Further information:
Monsenso:
CEO
Thomas Lethenborg
Tel. +45 21 29 88 27
E-mail: lethenborg@monsenso.com 

Certified Adviser:
Norden CEF A/S
John Norden
Tel. +45 20 72 02 00
E-mail: jn@nordencef.dk

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Artificial intelligence creates individually tailored treatment for depression

Artificial intelligence creates individually tailored treatment for depression

by | Mar 28, 2023 | Depression, News, Research Projects

A new innovation project “Personae” will provide easier access to personalised digital treatment for patients with depression through Monsenso’s digital health platform. The project leverages patient-reported outcomes and AI to screen patients and to deliver a treatment tailored to the individual patients’ needs.

According to the WHO, more than one billion people worldwide have mental disorders, but the number of individuals receiving help is alarmingly low. In Western Europe, for instance, only half of the citizens with anxiety or depression receive relevant treatment. At the same time, the healthcare system is challenged by a shortage of healthcare professionals.

Therefore, Innovation Fund Denmark is funding the development of a personalised treatment based on Monsenso’s digital health solution, which will leverage artificial intelligence to tailor the treatment to the individual patient’s needs.

Today, digital programs provide evidence-based treatment to citizens with depression, for example in the Danish clinic” Internetpsykiatrien”. Research shows that such programs have the same effect on citizens with mild to moderate depression as physical therapy sessions. The potential is huge, with thousands of citizens on waiting lists or receiving no relevant support at all. However, delivering a personalised intervention to everyone is challenging. Some patients benefit from a fully automated, digital treatment program, others need their treatment program supported by a psychologist, and yet other patients with complex life situations need physical meetings with their healthcare providers.

“The project enables us to use artificial intelligence, which, in collaboration with Monsenso’s digital health solution and the Internetpsykiatrien, can ensure that more people can quickly get access to the right treatment. This next generation of digital treatment will make it much easier to offer a fully or partially digital treatment that matches each individual’s needs,” says Kim Mathiasen, research director at the Center for Digital Psychiatry, who leads the Personae project.

”We see great potential in this project. It enables us to continue the development of our digital health solution and further validate it. It will improve the way we use people’s own health and behavioral data to keep them engaged, customise their treatment and support clinical decision-making at scale”, says Thomas Lethenborg, CEO at Monsenso.

”The unique, patient-reported data that will be generated from the screening and continuous use of Monsenso’s solution in Internetpsykiatrien is a fantastic foundation for development, training and validation of algorithms for automatisation of decision support and optimisation of treatment pathways”, says Dr. Pepijn Van de Ven, Senior Lecturer at Limerick University.

The primary ambition of the project is to develop intelligent adaptations of treatment content to match patients’ symptoms and life situations. The solution should be able to identify early signs of drop-out and support patients’ and healthcare providers’ decisions concerning treatment. The artificial intelligence solutions will be incorporated into both the public Internetpsykiatrien clinic, which the Center for Digital Psychiatry operates, and into the digital health solution of Monsenso.

The project is led by the Center for Digital Psychiatry, which, in Danish and international contexts, is a pioneer in internet-based therapy in terms of development, research, and operation. This project combines their research and extensive clinical experience with the competencies and commercial platform of Monsenso, as well as the unique competencies in artificial intelligence for mental health at the University of Limerick. 

Facts
Project title: Personae – Personalised Digital Treatment of Depression
Total budget: DKK 22.1 mio.
Innovation Fund Denmark investment: DKK 16.5 mio.
Net contribution to Monsenso: DKK 3.9 mio.
Duration: 4 years

About the partners
Center for Digital Psychiatry at Region Southern Denmark works to ensure that all Danes have easy and equal access to mental health. In a Danish and international context, the Center for Digital Psychiatry are frontrunners in the use of digital solutions for mental health promotion and psychiatric treatment and they are experts in matching the current needs of psychiatry with the right digital technology.

The University of Limerick, Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering, has high expertise in research and teaching in information and communication technology. The Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering is a leader in research on artificial intelligence for Internet-based therapy.

Odense University Hospital, the Danish Depression Association and the strategic innovation agency Is It a Bird are also involved in the project.

Further information:
Monsenso:
CEO
Thomas Lethenborg
Tel. +45 21 29 88 27
E-mail: lethenborg@monsenso.com 

Certified Adviser:
Norden CEF A/S
John Norden
Tel. +45 20 72 02 00
E-mail: jn@nordencef.dk

 

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Monsenso participates in new project to investigate what works best for patients with depression after discharge from psychiatric treatment

Monsenso participates in new project to investigate what works best for patients with depression after discharge from psychiatric treatment

by | Feb 28, 2023 | mHealth, News

Depression is more common than one might think. In Denmark, it is estimated that between 7-12% of men and 15-25% of women suffer from depression at least once in their lifetime [1], which means that approximately 150.000 Danes live with moderate to severe depression at any given time [2]. But how do patients who have received psychiatric treatment for depression experience the sector-transition into the primary sector? And what are their needs for treatment and care from different healthcare sectors? The DEPRIC research project is now trying to find answers and thereby develop a new treatment model for depression across healthcare sectors in Denmark.

The transitional phase from inpatient wards into the primary sector can represent a vulnerable period for patients suffering from depression [3,4], with “high risks of relapse and readmission” [5] . The research project DEPRIC thus aims to establish a new treatment model for depression across the healthcare sectors in Denmark. The project is led by PhD student Anne Sofie Mosborg Aggestrup from the Mental Health Services in the Capital Region of Denmark. The DEPRIC project began in October 2021, and the project now offers patients who have completed a treatment course for severe depression at an affective disorders outpatient unit at the Mental Health Centre Copenhagen to participate in this cross-sectoral study by self-reporting data in an application (app) [6].

Throughout the research project so far, interviews, focus groups, and a group interview have been conducted with participating patients, healthcare professionals, and job consultants across sectors. In addition, the project will conduct workshops during the autumn of 2023. Currently, patients will be provided with the Monsenso digital health solution, an app that will allow them to register relevant data throughout the research project. This self-reported patient data will entail, for instance, data on the patients’ mood, sleep patterns, mental well-being, use of medication, connections to the labour market, and on why and how often they have approached specialist groups after their treatment course in the psychiatry [6]. 

It is anticipated that patients will begin their app registrations at the end of February 2023, and will then register every second week for a period of six months. The researchers behind the DEPRIC project aim to establish a more coherent patient course by involving patients, healthcare professionals, and job consultants in developing a new treatment model across healthcare sectors in Denmark. The researchers hypothesize that this will promote patients’ recovery process from depression, and reduce relapses of depression and psychiatric hospitalizations after the patients’ discharge from outpatient psychiatric treatment.

“Our aim is to help provide better health with better data. We are looking forward to contributing to this project and helping patients with mental illness transition across sectors more seamlessly for a better patient experience and higher quality of life”, says Thomas Lethenborg, CEO at Monsenso.

 “The self-registrations in the app will help us to identify factors and parameters to support patients on their pathway into the primary healthcare sector. Together with interviews, focus groups, group interviews, and workshops, the data in the app will help to develop a new treatment model that aims to prevent relapse of depression”, says Anne Sofie Mosborg Aggestrup, PhD student at the University of Copenhagen.
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About Monsenso
Monsenso is an innovative technology company offering a digital health solution used for decentralised trials, remote patient monitoring and treatment support. Our mission is to contribute to improved health for more people at lower costs by supporting treatment digitally and leveraging patient-reported outcomes data. Our solution helps optimise the treatment and gives a detailed overview of an individual’s health through the collection of outcome, adherence, and behavioural data. It connects individuals, carers, and health care providers to enable personalised treatment, remote care, and early intervention. We collaborate with health and social care, pharmaceuticals, and leading researcher worldwide in our endevaours to deliver solutions that fit into the life of patients and health care professionals. To learn more visit  www.monsenso.com.

References:
[1] Kessing, L.V. (2021). Depression, forekomst. Sundhed.dk.
https://www.sundhed.dk/borger/patienthaandbogen/psyke/sygdomme/depression/depression-forekomst/#:~:text=Depression%20er%20hyppig.,de%20lettere%20og%20moderate%20depressioner.

[2] Videbech, P., & Deleuran, A. (). The Danish Depression Database. Clinical Epidemiology, 8, 475–478.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5098510/

[3] Dunker Svendsen, S., Aggestrup, A.S., Nørregaard, L.B., Løventoft, P., Præstegaard, A., Danilenko, K.V., Frost, M., Knorr, U., Hageman, I., Vedel Kessing, L. & Martiny, K. (2019). Circadian reinforcement therapy in combination with electronic self-monitoring to facilitate a safe post-discharge period of patients with depression by stabilizing sleep: protocol of a randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry, 19, 124. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-019-2101-z

[4] Tønning, M.L., Faurholt-Jepsen, M., Frost, M., Martiny, K., Tuxen, N., Rosenberg, N., Busk, J., Winther, O., Melbye, S.A., Thaysen-Petersen, D., Aamund, K.A., Tolderlund, L., Bardram, J.E. & Kessing, L.V. (2021). The effect of smartphone-based monitoring and treatment on the rate and duration of psychiatric readmission in patients with unipolar depressive disorder: The RADMIS randomized controlled trial. Journal of Affective Disorders, 282, 354-363. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33421863/

[5] Lauritsen, L., Andersen, L., Olsson, E., Søndergaard, S.R., Nørregaard, L.B., Løventoft, P.K., Svendsen, S.D., Frøkjær, E., Jensen, H.M., Hageman, I., Kessing, L.V. & Martiny, K. (2017). Usability, Acceptability, and Adherence to an Electronic Self-Monitoring System in Patients With Major Depression Discharged From Inpatient Wards. Journal of Medical Internet Research,19(4), e123. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28432040/

[6] Madsen, M.B. (2023). Forskere vil forbedre overgange i behandling til mennesker med depression gennem en brugerinddragende indsats. Region Hovestandens Psykiatri.
https://www.psykiatri-regionh.dk/presse-og-nyt/Nyheder-og-pressemeddelelser/Sider/forskningsprojektet-depric.aspx

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European community-based intervention project will use Monsenso’s platform to prevent mental illness

European community-based intervention project will use Monsenso’s platform to prevent mental illness

by | Dec 15, 2022 | mHealth, News

Together with a European consortium of partners, Monsenso has received a grant letter on a new community-based intervention project that includes development and trial of a digital health intervention delivered on Monsenso’s platform to prevent mental illness among vulnerable groups.

Global trends such as war, economic crisis, climate changes, migration, pandemics and ageing population place increasing stress and pressure on European societies. To be able to adapt to fast-changing situations, scalable intervention programmes targeted at building resilience and enhancing self-help competency to prevent mental illness are needed.

Upon receiving this grant letter, Monsenso is now entering into grant agreement negotiations with a consortium of leading researchers in clinical psychology, internet-based therapy, AI and community mental health providers across Europe. The aim of the project is to develop and trial an AI-enabled personalised self-care program based on Monsenso’s platform to help prevent mental illness for high-risk groups. The five-year project is anticipated to start in Q2-2023 and is expected to contribute with DKK 5.7 mio to Monsenso.

“This is the second AI-enabled personalised therapy project that we plan to start in the coming year, and it comes after finalising another European research project this year, where results showed significant effect of delivering digital cognitive behavioral therapy for prevention of mental illness. We will build on the evidence and experience of previous projects and further develop our platform to provide personalised, AI-driven digital programs for people at risk of developing mental illness, so that they can get easy and timely access to evidence-based support”, says Thomas Lethenborg, CEO of Monsenso.

Further information on the project including consortium members, funding program and population groups targeted will be communicated upon signature of a grant agreement, which is expected in Q1 of 2023.
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About Monsenso
Monsenso is an innovative technology company offering a digital health solution used for decentralised trials, remote patient monitoring and treatment support. Our mission is to contribute to improved health for more people at lower costs by supporting treatment digitally and leveraging patient-reported outcomes data. Our solution helps optimise the treatment and gives a detailed overview of an individual’s health through the collection of outcome, adherence, and behavioural data. It connects individuals, carers, and health care providers to enable personalised treatment, remote care, and early intervention. We collaborate with health and social care, pharmaceuticals, and leading researcher worldwide in our endevaours to deliver solutions that fit into the life of patients and health care professionals. To learn more visit  www.monsenso.com.

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Monsenso to participate in AI-enabled personalised mental health therapy project

Monsenso to participate in AI-enabled personalised mental health therapy project

by | Dec 13, 2022 | mHealth, News

Monsenso and a consortium of partners have received a grant letter from a funding entity to develop and trial a new, AI-enabled personalised therapy concept for people with mental disorders.

Currently, digital mental health interventions are largely developed as a one-size-fits-all approach, where patients get a fixed 6-12 week intervention and where drop-out rates are relatively high.

With the grant letter received, Monsenso is entering grant agreement negotiations with a consortium of leading researchers in clinical psychology, internet-based therapy, health economics and AI to develop and trial a new AI-enabled personalised care concept based on Monsenso’s platform. The four-year project is anticipated to start in Q2-2023 and is expected to contribute with DKK 3.9 mio to Monsenso.

“With this project, we will further develop our platform’s ability to deliver personalised digital treatment programs and to ensure optimal adherence to treatment. By leveraging patients’ own data and artificial intelligence, the aim is to be able to give more engaging and personalised care based on patients’ actual state, so that patients are offered the right treatment at the right time in a scalable way”, says Thomas Lethenborg, CEO of Monsenso.

Full disclosure of the project details including consortium members, funding program, and disorder area will be possible upon signature of the grant agreement, which is expected in Q1 of 2023.
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About Monsenso
Monsenso is an innovative technology company offering a digital health solution used for decentralised trials, remote patient monitoring and treatment support. Our mission is to contribute to improved health for more people at lower costs by supporting treatment digitally and leveraging patient-reported outcomes data. Our solution helps optimise the treatment and gives a detailed overview of an individual’s health through the collection of outcome, adherence, and behavioural data. It connects individuals, carers, and health care providers to enable personalised treatment, remote care, and early intervention. We collaborate with health and social care, pharmaceuticals, and leading researcher worldwide in our endevaours to deliver solutions that fit into the life of patients and health care professionals. To learn more visit  www.monsenso.com.

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Monsenso releases enhanced version of its clinical web portal & refreshed patient app

Monsenso releases enhanced version of its clinical web portal & refreshed patient app

by | Dec 1, 2022 | mHealth, News

Monsenso releases an enhanced version of its clinical web portal and a refreshed patient app. The product enhancements entail an improved and even more intuitive user interface of the solution’s patient app and clinical web portal in order to enhance remote patient monitoring and treatment support for clinicians, as well as the communication and collaboration between clinician and patient.

Among others, the enhancements allow clinicians to recommend treatment content to the patients individually to support personalised treatment. Clinicians can now recommend their patients to do specific exercises, visit the library with psychoeducational content or answer a specific clinical questionnaire. Once the clinician has made a recommendation via the clinical web portal, patients are notified and it is immediately emphasised in the patient’s app. This allows clinicians to provide more personalised treatment and also helps engage and empower patients in taking care of their own mental health.

The product enhancements result from an extensive, user-centered design process involving patients and clinicians in both design and testing phases to ensure the enhancements meet the needs of our users.

“We are excited to offer an improved version of our digital health solution to partners, clients, and patients. The feedback we have received during extensive internal and external testing periods has been excellent, and we are looking forward to empowering individuals, their carers, and clinicians even more on the treatment pathway”, says CEO, Thomas Lethenborg.
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About Monsenso
Monsenso is an innovative technology company offering a digital health solution used for decentralised trials, remote patient monitoring and treatment support. Our mission is to contribute to improved health for more people at lower costs by supporting treatment digitally and leveraging patient-reported outcomes data. Our solution helps optimise the treatment and gives a detailed overview of an individual’s health through the collection of outcome, adherence, and behavioural data. It connects individuals, carers, and health care providers to enable personalised treatment, remote care, and early intervention. We collaborate with health and social care, pharmaceuticals, and leading researcher worldwide in our endevaours to deliver solutions that fit into the life of patients and health care professionals. To learn more visit  www.monsenso.com.

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