In people of all ages around the world, depression and mental health difficulties are no longer minor problems. After the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, the need for readily available, flexible, scalable, and long-lasting alternatives to mental health therapy became obvious. Can new technology like Blockchain aid in the efficiency of mental healthcare? Let’s explore that.
Diagnostic procedures and patient record access are two challenges in the field of mental health treatment. Blood tests and scans alone won’t help doctors identify the issue. Patients frequently experience feelings of humiliation, confusion, fear, and anxiety—many of which are symptoms brought on by their condition—and feel the need to hide their true symptoms from their doctors. Care providers have limited or no access to various platforms to get patient information if a patient has a proper diagnosis and ends up at a different hospital or clinic, which is frequently the case for this age group. This is where blockchain comes into play.
Blockchain can be explained in the simplest terms by a chain of blocks that contain specific information. The type of data kept in a chain’s blocks determines what kind of chain it is. For instance, the blockchain for mental health might include details about mental diseases, their symptoms, recommended treatments, and favoured medications.
The value proposition for blockchain technology in the mental health care industry is to securely transfer sensitive patient data among healthcare organisations while also empowering patients. Modern technologies are starting to be adopted by the healthcare industry and related organisations for value-based healthcare diagnosis.
What blockchain brings to the table for mental healthcare:
● A single file format is used to store the data. This makes it simple for anyone throughout the world to access and comprehend the data.
● Access to data is simple across clinics, hospitals, and insurance providers. With the point of reference provided by the data, it will enhance diagnosing and treating mental illness and prevent the loss of historical and pertinent data. Data about mental patients is now more safe than ever thanks to blockchain technology. By completely eliminating third parties, the decentralised data storage allows patients to access the records of mental healthcare organisations and obtain correct information.The patient will always be in charge of deciding who has access to the data.
● Patients and mental health professionals will be able to identify trends in mental health problems and participate to the search for new treatments and solutions as a result of having access to the data records maintained by mental health organisations.
The main goal of blockchain technology is to deliver precise information that can help make the world a better place to live. The precision of the data can be an indicator of how well mental health issues will be diagnosed. There is a big hole to be filled in the field of mental healthcare, with the diagnostic accuracy for cognitive disorders at 60%, depression at 50%, and anxiety disorders at 46%. Blockchain technology has the potential to close that hole
