Big Data in treating mental disorders

Big Data in treating mental disorders

by | May 27, 2020

Big data in treating mental disorders explains how data is transforming the treatment of mental disorders and the overall life science industry. Monsenso’s mHealth solution shows how technology provides new ways to inform treatment and achieve scalability. This is a blog post written by Mads Frost PhD, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Monsenso. 

The challenge with mental health today

According to numerous analyses and forecasts conducted by several international organizations and authorities, mental health today is one of the biggest challenges for society and health budgets. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has predicted that mental disorders will be the greatest health burden for society in the coming years. This emphasizes the need for solutions to remedy this. Presently, technology is the best bet.

An example of the utilisation of technology to help overcome the burden of mental health for society is Monsenso. Monsenso is an innovation leader in mHealth solutions for the treatment of mental disorders. Monsenso helps support the treatment of mental disorders by inspiring and strengthening cooperation between patients and therapists.

Based on continuous research with leading experts in psychiatry, pervasive healthcare and data science, Monsenso has designed an innovative solution that fits into each patient’s life and helps them to better manage their disease as well as increasing the quality and effectiveness of treatment. It has been developed in a user-centred design approach, with patients, clinicians and relatives, to ensure that the solution is easy to apply and fits into the patient’s life and treatment.

The mental x-ray

Through daily self-assessment, clinical questionnaires, and collection of behavioural data from both sensors in modern Smartphone, wearables, and even voice analyses of patients’ voices, Monsenso provides the patient and the therapist with a detailed insight into the user’s mental health state. Through the application of advanced data analysis, indicators such as behavioural patterns, contexts and even forecasting future conditions and risk levels can be demonstrated – all with the purpose of gaining better insight into the patient’s mental health and providing an improved basis for treatment.

Generally, many organizations are fighting to realize mHealth’s full potential. According to a study where clinicians have been asked: “What is your most pressing information technology problem”, the answer that received the highest percentage of responses was, “turning data into action.” [1]

Psychiatry has previously used paper schemes to collect information from patients. However, but current technology provides access to a wide range of information that has not previously been available. This technology can be called the mental x-ray, in that using this technology can be used to see and monitor mental functioning with x-ray like precision and detail. This allows for early interventions and to help patients when they are in need. An example of this at work is the Monsenso based research into using voice analysis as an objective state marker for bipolar disorder . [2]

Paradigm shift in treatment: How do we achieve scalability?

To achieve the benefits of technology, it is necessary to adapt the clinical workflows. Psychiatry has a very traditional form of treatment where the patient meets the therapist and receives face-to-face treatment. The future brings more patients and fewer therapists – how do we scale this?

One possible solution is to optimising treatment is to use monitoring systems. These systems can rapidly identify which patients are in need of help, and which ones are well. In this way, clinicians’ time can be focused on patients who are in need.  Likewise, the systems can be more treatment-supporting, taking over the trivial and automatable tasks of the clinician, allowing them to spend their time on those with the greatest needs – the complex cases that technology cannot help. The last perspective – a paradigm shift in treatment – is to go from a reactive to a proactive approach. The proactive approach comes from gathering more detailed information, to lead to more informed decisions and earlier interventions. More information can help immediately notify both patients and clinicians when things start to go in the wrong direction, and need help to prevent potential hospitalisations. And the patients, who are well, can focus on life and not illness. However, it is important to keep in mind that it is not a trivial task to realise this.

How should we realise the potential of ‘Big Data’

On an overall level, there are a number of points that companies that are active in data-driven health technology should think about to thrive in complex health environments:

  • Find applications and services that bring tangible value to identifiable stakeholders – it must provide meaning and value to end users
  • Think on a global scale
  • Focus on solutions, not technology
  • Identify potential partners to create greater impact and find new value

Most of all, those who come from the outside into the healthcare domain must avoid the trap of seeing technology as something different from healthcare. Its greatest value will be how it integrates with healthcare systems and allows clinicians to provide better care for patients.

In some cases, technology will appear illusory: Personal contact between patient and therapist will always have a place in treatment, but data driven approaches can revolutionise the basis on which treatment is given.

Where are we going?

There are many possibilities that presents itself when exploring data driven approaches. I have  particularly emphasised ‘Context Aware Computing’ as one of the perspectives that are important to pursue. The goal is to use the context of the patients to provide the right intervention, to the right patient, at the right time, at the right place. This is not a trivial task, but extremely important for solutions like Monsenso to really help patients. The present systems are still relatively unintelligent in terms of achieving this, based on the amount of data available. It is difficult to know the context of what the collected data in the system is based on – what experiences and thoughts the patients have.

[1]  Top 5 industry challenges of 2016 By Aubrey Westgate, November 30, 2015  http://managedhealthcareexecutive.modernmedicine.com/managed-healthcare-executive/news/top-5-industry-challenges-2016?page=0,0

[2]  VOICE ANALYSIS AS AN OBJECTIVE STATE MARKER IN BIPOLAR DISORDER. M Faurholt-Jepsen, J Busk, M Frost, M Vinberg, EM Christensen, O Winther, JE Bardram, and LV Kessing. Translational Psychiatry, 2016. (ISSN: 2158-3188) (DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ tp.2016.123), vol: 6, issue: 7, 2016

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Municipality of Ikast-Brande strengthens its addiction services with Monsenso

Municipality of Ikast-Brande strengthens its addiction services with Monsenso

by | Jan 16, 2019

Copenhagen, Denmark – 17 January 2019. Monsenso, a Danish healthtech company focused on mobile health solutions for mental health, is proud to announce our newest collaboration with the Center for Rusmiddelbehandling in the municipality of Ikast-Brande. The aim of the pilot project is to examine how the Monsenso mhealth solution can be used as an integrated part of the addiction treatment, across both alcohol and substance misuse.

The project, which will be running from January 2019 to January 2020, will primarily involve people in outpatient treatment. This is the first step in implementing the solution more broadly throughout the center’s services, widening the scope and population that they can reach, and ultimately benefitting the people living in the municipality.

The aim of the project is to evaluate the clinical and financial benefits of using the Monsenso Solution. This is relevant for clients currently receiving treatment and for clients who have completed their treatment and are part of the post-treatment service, where it is crucial not to fall back into old and undesired habits.

With the help of the Monsenso solution and the data that are being reported directly by the client, the clinician will be able to personalise the treatment to fit each client’s needs, as they have knowledge of the client’s issues over time. It also allows for clinicians to be more proactive and reach out to clients at the time they need help in order to avoid potential relapses.

Thomas Lethenborg, CEO of Monsenso ApS, says: “The Center for Rusmiddelbehandling in Ikast-Brande strives to enhance the quality of their services by implementing the newest technology. Addiction services are an interesting growth area for Monsenso, and we are convinced that implementing our solution will be beneficial to both clients and clinicians. Moreover, the collected data are opening up a number of exciting and innovative opportunities relating to addiction treatment.”

Mette Christensen, the Head of the Center for Rusmiddelbehandling, says: “We are implementing this new technology in our addiction services to improve the quality of the treatment we can provide. At the same time, we get to be more pro-active and understand our clients better, which will profit both them and the entire municipality. The clinicians are motivated to try a different working method, so we look forward to getting started”.

Click here to read the press release in Danish.


About Center for Rusmiddelbehandling
Center for Rusmiddelbehandling (CFR) is Ikast-Brande municipality’s offer of counselling, treatment and prevention of alcohol and substance misuse. The center currently has 20 employees with different educational backgrounds, which provides a wide range of competences. CFR offers both outpatient alcohol and substance treatment, day treatment and substitution therapy.
For more information visit www.cfr.ikast-brande.dk.

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 endeavours to deliver solutions that fit into the life of patients and health care professionals. To learn more visit  www.monsenso.com.

For further information about Monsenso contact:
Thomas Lethenborg
CEO
Monsenso
+45 21298827
Lethenborg@monsenso.com

Monsenso partnered with University of Cambridge to support research into individuals with intellectual disabilities

Monsenso partnered with University of Cambridge to support research into individuals with intellectual disabilities

by | Oct 24, 2018

Monsenso has partnered with the University of Cambridge, Department of Psychiatry, to support the research of using mHealth to help identify the possible causes of behavioural problems for those with intellectual disabilities.

The University plans to further their research and advance their understanding of behavioural problems in individuals with intellectual disabilities, which will initially include a  group of people with Prader-Willi Syndrome. The study will be focusing on recording of information & data relating to their mental health state and try to elucidate the reasons for the behavioural problems.

Professor Tony Holland, Chair in Learning Disabilities in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge said: “In the field of learning disabilities, we are asking questions like: “How do we detect poor mental health and behavioural problems early on?” By applying new technological solutions, such as Monsenso, we can not only improve how we collect data, but also how we can identify signatures that are an indication of poor mental health and behavioural problems.”

The Monsenso mHealth solution is used in a growing number of mental health innovation and research related studies. Monsenso is delighted to be working with Prof. Holland and team. The solution will be employed to monitor individuals and collect behavioural and physiological data via the smartphone delivered solution. The solution will collect daily self-assessment data, diary entries and record physiological measures, complemented by passive data collection by both the smartphone and wearable devices. This aim of the study is to use this data to determine the effectiveness of treatment on a number of physiological measures, and to compare physiological measures between groups of participants. Additionally, this study also wishes to see if this data can potentially identify triggers, or causes, of the behavioural problems of participants.

In previous similar research studies, clinicians, nurses and researchers were also asked to collect data about the client’s mental state and outbursts. However, this data was pen-and-paper based, which was clearly vulnerable to inaccuracies, as it was dependent upon the nurse’s ability to remember and record the events as soon as they occurred. It was also difficult for these notes to provide a longitudinal picture of the client’s behaviour over time. Applience of the technological solutions is a massive advancement in how researchers utilise and collect research data in this complex setting.

“Research is essential to find out which treatment and interventions work better for the patients and our mHealth solution can be used to enhance data collection and outcome measures that support this. Using this technology, Monsenso can help provide a detailed longitudinal overview about the individual’s mental state, which can help to identify signatures of behavioural patterns, and even forecast future conditions. We are proud to support the researchers of the University of Cambridge”, says Thomas Lethenborg, CEO of Monsenso.

Harnessing mHealth with addiction at Amy’s Place

Harnessing mHealth with addiction at Amy’s Place

by | Sep 19, 2018

This is the reposting of an original article written by Centra Group. You can read the original article here.

Monsenso is proud to announce a new working partnership with UK’s telecare provider, Centra. The joint work will explore new, digital approaches to mental health service provision at Amy’s Place’ – Centra’s and Amy Winehouse Foundation’s (AWF) flagship addiction recovery service in East London.

The Monsenso mHealth app offers a comprehensive solution for managing a range of affective disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder. By utilising everyday smartphone technology, Monsenso supports individuals to self-manage their conditions whilst providing valuable insights to their mental health or social care support worker.

The Monsenso solution combines self-reported data and environmental sensor data to provide a balanced view of an individual’s behaviour and mood over time. The data can be accessed by nominated support staff to help inform diagnosis and treatment pathways.

Over the past ten months Centra’s Research and Innovation (R&I) team has worked closely with Monsenso as well as staff and residents at Amy’s Place to evaluate and configure the solution.

A pilot program will be established for six months, with testing conducted by a group of young women currently living at Amy’s Place and their support workers. Throughout the pilot, the service will be evaluated and supported by Centra’s R&I team to ensure that it meets expectations and maximises its benefits..

About Centra
Centra is one of UK’s largest providers of telecare services delivering a range of life-saving alarm and monitoring services to social care workers, housing associations, health professionals, local authorities and individuals. Supporting over 100,000 customers across the country, our aim is to help people live safely and independently for longer. Our in-house Telecare team provide 24/7 call monitoring and support our clients with wellbeing checks, automated “I’m OK” calls and scheduled medication reminders. We also offer GPS-enabled devices for round-the-clock support away from home. As industry leaders, we provide cutting-edge technology solutions and tailored support that help meet customers’ ever-changing needs. To learn more, visit www.centragroup.org.uk

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 endeavours to deliver solutions that fit into the life of patients and health care professionals. To learn more visit www.monsenso.com.

About the Amy Winehouse Foundation
The Amy Winehouse Foundation works to prevent the effects of drug and alcohol misuse on young people. We also aim to support, inform and inspire vulnerable and disadvantaged young people to help them reach their full potential. We are driven by a powerful vision for young people, a world where young people can flourish. To learn more, visit www.amywinehousefoundation.org

I Truly Believe Monsenso Can Help Others with Bipolar Disorder Type 2

I Truly Believe Monsenso Can Help Others with Bipolar Disorder Type 2

by | Sep 11, 2018

Peter Hagelund’s has a documentary series in Danish called “Jeg savner min sygdom” which translates to “I miss my illness” the series is about living with Bipolar Disorder Type 2. Click on this link to watch the documentary.

In 2014, I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder Type 2.

During my whole life, I had known that something was different about me. I always struggled with depression and anxiety, and what eventually turned out to be hypomania. When I was 22, I had my first big depression episode and had to start taking antidepressants. However, it would take me six more years before I was officially diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder Type 2.

The tricky thing about having this diagnosis is that you do not experience the typical manic episode where you are over-energetic and nearly psychotic. Instead, you’re hypomanic, which means that you’re socially well functioning. You’re not psychotic. You actually feel really good. So the problem is, that you don’t go to your psychiatrist and say that you feel too well. At least I didn’t.

The reason why my psychiatrist found out I had Bipolar Disorder was because I couldn’t get out of my depression. At first, my psychiatrist diagnosed me with depression and ADD. But these diagnoses didn’t seem to fit because I still had strong mood swings and a lot of anxiety. When I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder Type 2, it actually made sense. Suddenly, I could see why I had felt the way I had most of my life.

I really believe that the Monsenso smartphone app could have helped my psychiatrist give me the right diagnosis at an earlier stage because the app helps me to keep track of my mood and to become more aware of how I feel. With the app, I have to pause and take a moment to think about how I’ve actually been doing before entering my answers. Keeping track of all this information has helped my treatment. My psychiatrist and I can plan better on how to avoid my future depressive or hypomanic episodes because we can clearly identify when I am having mood swings.  

In August 2018, my documentary about living with Bipolar Disorder aired on national Danish television and the response was overwhelming. Many people have contacted me, to thank me for talking about my illness. I had made the documentary so other people who have this illness, are not ashamed of it and I think I succeeded.

My hope is that in the future people are diagnosed at an earlier stage than I was and I truly believe the Monsenso app is one of the things that can help. I really hope that other psychiatrists and their patients will start using the app.

Click here to read this story in Danish.