About 120 mental health experts gathered at Orlando Regional Medical Center for Orlando Health’s second annual mental health conference. It’s double the attendance the conference had last year, with nurses, doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselors from around the Central Florida area.
The theme this year? The future of mental health.
Among the big concerns in the industry is the ongoing loneliness epidemic. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 29% of Florida residents experience loneliness. Florida tends to be one of the happier states in the country, CDC data shows, but experts are still concerned about the issue exacerbating.
The issue grew after the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the conveniences of modern communication technologies, said Kenny Tello, the corporate director of team member well-being at Orlando Health and one of the speakers at the conference.
“We're starting to see in the mental health field that is going to inform us into the future is what is the impact of convenience? And the impact of convenience has been loneliness and disconnection,” he said.
But technology isn’t always the enemy in this fight, he said.. Tello believes technology, social media, and AI can be better used by mental health experts to address issues such as loneliness.
Tello said the industry faces three big challenges in helping the public: accessibility, misinformation, and stigma.
“Many individuals are still going without mental health services because they don't have access, they don't have the means to do that. But also that ties with the second challenge, and that is misinformation. Many individuals don't realize that there are a lot of clinics, there are a lot of services provided free of cost, even if you're not insured, or even if your insurance payments are too high,” he said.
To address these concerns, Tello said it’s time for clinicians to adapt to where people are getting information by embracing more podcasting and social media videos.
“We have to think outside the box. We can no longer just assume I'm going to wait in my office for people to call my office, set up an appointment, and come see me. That is becoming obsolete,” he said.
Additionally, experts spoke about AI and how it can be used to encourage positive mental health, including the possibilities that AI could be used to coach a patient in the form of an app or wearable when a counselor isn’t around.
“When they realize, okay, I'm getting a panic attack, that it alerts them. It tells them to breathe. Do this exercise. They don't need a counselor, and now it's AI coaching them through those situations,” he said.
While ideas like that are still being tested, Tello said AI could have a much more immediate impact soon by helping counselors triage patients and sift between people in need of connecting with a counselor and those who need quick information.
“The future of mental health is like creating a sort of menu for individuals to access, very much like when you go to a restaurant,” he said. “We have to give the public a menu. What are the options that they have, such as podcasts, workshops, trainings, classes, support groups, different apps, counselors… We hold the responsibility to be able to be at the forefront of those changes, and create that content so that it is informed by evidence and by research, but also informed by the trends that we see in our offices.”
