Digital Health Brazil members perform more than 25,000 telepsychiatry and telepsychology consultations per month. To support and provide a common environment for debates and sectoral alignments on the topic, a specific working group is being created within the entity to bring together professionals in the area.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 101,000 people worldwide suffer from mental disorders, which would correspond to approximately 720 million people. Brazil is the country that leads the ranking of anxiety and depression in Latin America, with almost 19 million people with these conditions. This worsening scenario has led to a significant increase in the number of telehealth and telepsychiatry services among companies that are part of Saúde Digital (Brazilian Association of Telemedicine and Digital Health Companies).
An unprecedented survey conducted by Conexa, a digital health ecosystem and member of the entity, showed that, from January to July 2023, 40 patients out of every 100 on health plans sold directly to corporate clients were diagnosed with some type of emotional disorder. The objective was to clinically analyze the state of mind of people in the job market. The study also indicates that there was growth in the first seven months of this year, compared to 2022, in diagnoses of ADHD (35%), anxiety (24%) and exhaustion (30%), which in the new international classification of diseases is recognized as burnout.
“People who may be suffering in any of these scenarios need to understand how this works, where it comes from, and what tools they can use within their limitations during a psychotherapy journey. After all, we all have our limitations. It is necessary to understand what tools they can develop or work on to overcome this suffering and to be able to mature the way they deal with situations. Strengthen and promote the resilience of these people and their ability to return to their normal state. Digital health helps with this from the moment it provides accessibility, so you can eliminate the geographical barrier”, highlights Érica Maia, mental health manager at Conexa.
In fact, technological development, innovation and new perspectives arising from this process have enabled the creation of tools that enable remote care, diagnosis and monitoring of patients with mental disorders, contributing to the effectiveness of diagnoses and efficiency of treatments.
“We live in an era of rapid transformations, sociocultural and technological challenges, and a complex interaction between individual and collective well-being. Recent technological advances, the pressures of modern society, as well as health and socioeconomic crises have led to an increase in the prevalence of mental disorders and stress related to daily life,” highlights Camila Ribeiro, market director of Dr. Online 24, a company associated with SDB. The executive explains that the percentage of favorable clinical outcomes in the services provided by Dr. Online24 psychologists is higher than 90%, which demonstrates that telehealth, when well applied, based on protocols and a qualified professional team, not only generates a great impact on the effective delivery of mental health care, but also offers exciting opportunities for innovation, optimization and expansion of our products and services in the health area.
Currently, SDB has around 12 companies that provide mental and emotional health services. A survey conducted by sampling concluded that more than 25,000 services are provided per month by these companies, which have qualified and specialized teams to meet the growing demands.
“Scaling self-knowledge, support and intervention in emotional issues is bringing the future to the present. We could not have imagined this 20 years ago, when in-person psychology consultations were the established form of treatment. At Teladoc, for example, we serve the entire country, expatriates in different parts of the world,” explains Patrícia Ramos Branco, Teladoc’s Mental Health Manager. According to her, this growth is remarkable and there are countless success stories, mainly because it is a democratic solution. “It is important to understand that online psychology is for all life cycles and all social classes, reducing prejudices.”
At Amparo Saúde, a company that provides Primary Health Care services for the Sabin Group, demand has been growing, both online and in person, with the increase in the client base in the contracts that Amparo serves. According to Sabrina Tardin Abreu, Amparo's lead psychologist, adherence varies positively as people begin to perceive its benefits and realize that online care is of quality.
“I have observed a progressive and significant improvement in accessibility, continuity and engagement in treatments. It is important to highlight the financial savings and reduction in stress in travel and waiting in offices. I would also like to highlight the agility achieved in coordinating care and in exchanges with professionals from other specialties. Sabin itself is an example of a company that is attentive to the well-being of its employees, and most of the programs are only possible through the digital health tools implemented. Issues such as location, travel and the working hours of the people being assisted are taken into account, which today are no longer impediments to accessing a fast and quality health service,” he emphasizes.
At AmorSaúde Telemedicina, the volume of psychology consultations in 2023 already represents 15% of the total consultations carried out by the company. This growth, which has been noted month after month, according to William Paulino Lima, digital channels and relationship manager of the SDB associate, can be attributed to an increase in society's trust in digital media and also the possibility of having support at more affordable costs. The ease of service is another positive factor highlighted by him. “Everything is very simple so that the consultations are made easier for patients. They must access our website, choose the professional they want to see, make an appointment and, on the scheduled day and time, connect with their psychologist using their device (smartphone, computer, etc.), without the need to install any application, etc. Everything is simple, safe and objective”, he emphasizes.
Ingrid Vilaça Gromoski Cancela, psychologist and technical manager at Topmed Saúde, highlights the volume of research that today proves the progress that psychology and digital health are promoting around the world. “Taking care of mental health is no longer an option, but has become a priority in life. Telehealth care makes this more accessible, in addition to contributing to the treatment of phobias, with tools to work on cognitive stimuli, development of psychological assessments that assist in more accurate diagnoses and, therefore, more assertive treatments”, she highlights.
Among the advantages of telehealth applied in this context is the fact that the service can take place in any location, as long as the psychologist is within the jurisdiction of his/her Regional Psychology Board with active registration. “Therefore, the psychologist is able and legally authorized to provide services in the comfort of his/her home or office, without having to travel,” explains Karen Valéria da Silva, psychology coordinator at Docway, also a member of the SDB, who adds: “Digital health allows multidisciplinary teams from different locations to connect in the same digital environment, making the patient the center of care, providing much more effective assistance.”
The high capacity to reach a larger number of people is also highlighted by Luciano Macedo, a psychologist at DOC24. “Telemedicine provides mental health care to many people who would not have access if it were not for this means. In other words, a person who lives 10, 15 kilometers from a city center, sometimes lives in a small town that only has one psychologist to provide care. There are also those who are immigrants in another country, going through difficulties, needing to talk, to take care of their mental health, and sometimes they will not have a connection with a professional in the region. So, telemedicine ends up being an option to access this professional who is here in Brazil, who, in addition to everything, will understand the customs, will understand the culture and will certainly be able to help them with mental health care.”
Aiming to ensure greater access to patients, Starbem highlighted that it offers an app that allows consultations to be carried out even at night and on Saturdays. “The current context demands speed and flexibility in routines, and it would be no different when providing emotional health care. Having a therapist just a touch away on your cell phone becomes essential to deal with the stress inherent in everyday life and develop coping strategies”, explains Ticiana Paiva, head of Psychology at the healthtech.
For Ligia Prado Fonseca, head of Psychology at VibeSaúde, another interesting benefit of telehealth services in mental health is that, despite the great progress in destigmatizing mental health treatment, many patients still do not feel comfortable attending in-person clinics with this focus. Online services allow these people to receive treatment with a greater sense of privacy and security. Ligia also emphasizes that telehealth can reduce costs for health professionals, which ends up having an impact and, consequently, reducing costs for patients. “We believe that telehealth offers benefits to patients and health professionals, and we have seen and felt this since we began our journey in this area. This is evident with each positive feedback received from patients, as well as through professional analysis of the evolution of the cases treated,” she emphasizes.
Despite all the benefits and advances of telehealth in the mental health area, there are still challenges to be overcome in the Brazilian social context, such as inequalities in access, as well as the need for greater promotion and expansion of telehealth services in the area to reduce the number of people suffering from mental disorders and ensure humane and quality treatment for those affected by these conditions. To encourage these discussions and contribute to the sustainable development of psychology and psychiatry services through the use of information and communication technologies, Saúde Digital Brasil decided to create a specific working group to address the issue, which will be composed exclusively of the entity's members who provide mental health services.
“Our goal is to promote an environment of debate and mutual collaboration among SDB members to address the specific challenges of mental health in the digital environment, with regard to, for example, ethical, administrative and financial aspects. In this sense, the initiative will create opportunities for the expansion and improvement of the quality of telepsychology and telepsychiatry services in Brazil, while at the same time preparing the entity to better understand the Brazilian scenario and have a more effective and active role in the area of mental health”, concludes Michele Alves, executive manager of Saúde Digital Brasil.
