Ingrid Vilaça Gromoski Cancela, from Topmed Saúde, and Lígia Prado Fonseca, from Vibe Saúde, will be leading the Saúde Digital Brasil initiative, which aims to foster important discussions for the sector and contribute to the sustainable development of psychology and psychiatry services through the use of information and communication technologies.
Despite all the benefits and advances of telehealth in the area of mental health, there are still challenges to be overcome in the Brazilian social context. Inequalities in access, the need for greater support and expansion of services to reduce the number of people affected by mental disorders and ensure humane and quality treatment are among them.
Aiming to foster these discussions and contribute to the sustainable development of psychology and psychiatry services through the use of information and communication technologies, Saúde Digital Brasil has created a specific working group to address the issue. Exclusively for members who provide mental health services, the Mental Health WG will be led by Ingrid Vilaça Gromoski Cancela, psychologist and technical manager at Topmed Saúde; and Lígia Prado Fonseca, psychology coordinator and technical manager at Vibe Saúde.
The 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 also preparing the entity to better understand the Brazilian scenario and to have a more effective and active role in the area of mental health.
“It is important to understand the role of digital mental health services in the current context, as well as the expanding and constant technological evolution in this model of digital health promotion. Evaluating and studying the ethical and accessibility aspects of this type of service is essential. Today, technology can access people in their most varied contexts and places, and we need to have a clearer and more assertive understanding of how this digital work can be even more effective and active. We need more indicators, data and evaluation processes for digital health services. This will be one of the important challenges to be explored”, emphasizes Ingrid.
According to Lígia, promoting legislation and regulation, fostering innovation and technological development, establishing good practices and ethical standards, as well as increasing the visibility of mental health as a whole, promoting telehealth as an effective means of caring for it is also an important role of the group that is starting the work. “We know that there is still a long way to go, but the creation of this WG is an opportunity for the sector to unite, being a space for sharing needs, challenges and planning in favor of mental health”, she adds.
Among the first actions of the Mental Health WG, which brings together doctors, psychologists and managers in the area, is to have a clear vision of how medical and psychological documents, resolutions, laws and how the professional councils CFM (Federal Council of Medicine) and CFP (Federal Council of Psychology) have carried out these validations. In other words, based on the situational understanding of the provision of this type of service in the digital environment and thus outlining the objectives and goals to be pursued.
In addition to working in the mental health sector, the WG plans to work together with the entity's other working groups, such as telemedicine in disaster situations, which is in the implementation phase, and others that have synergy, always thinking about the development of digital health as a whole.
Meet the coordinators
Ingrid Vilaça Gromoski Cancela graduated 10 years ago from the Universidade da Amazônia, in Belém do Pará, has a postgraduate degree in cognitive-behavioral therapy from PUCRS and is currently studying Neuroscience and Behavior at PUCRS. With 9 years of experience in clinical psychology, she has been working in the digital health area since 2020. She is currently the technical manager in the psychology area at Topmed, working on various products of psychological guidance and monitoring services, assisting in the construction of some mental health programs, representing the company in services such as lectures, podcasts, training and interviews.
Ligia Prado Fonseca is the coordinator and technical manager of psychology at Vibe Saúde. She is a specialist in Health Psychology from the Professional Development Program in Health Promotion at HCFMRP-USP. She graduated from the University of Ribeirão Preto with an emphasis on intervention processes in institutions and organizations. She has experience in issues related to aging, anxiety, depression and women's health, with a current focus on team management, training and performance evaluation, administration, creation and management of psychology products and content.
