HS 634 - Mental Health Informatics

Unit(s): 4

Mental health informatics (MHI) is a relatively new specialty within the field of biomedical informatics. MHI seeks to develop, enhance, and apply informatics theories, paradigms, and technologies to optimize the mental health of individuals and communities. In this course we define the scope of the field and discuss its relationship not only to the larger field of biomedical and health informatics, but also to work occurring natively within the field of mental health, particularly the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) program introduced by the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) and the closely-related, emerging field of computational psychiatry. Opportunities and challenges inherent in developing and using informatics technologies to create personalized, integrated, learning mental healthcare systems. Connections to clinical decision support systems, machine learning, and clinical data integration are presented. Although the course starts from the perspective of the US Mental healthcare system, contrasts to mental healthcare in a global context is also considered, with special focus on underserved populations in low and middle income regions. Students will be challenged to consider how information technology can be used to improve mental healthcare throughout the world.

School of Nursing and Health Professions