Challenges and Opportunities for Designing Technology-Based Ecological Momentary Interventions (EMIs) in Mental Health

Ecological momentary interventions (EMIs) are treatments that are provided to patients during their daily lives and in natural settings. These types of interventions are often used to improve self-management of health. Technologies such as smartphones can facilitate delivering EMIs thanks to their ubiquity. EMIs represent a novel approach for the delivery of psychological support to mental health disorders patients in daily life. In this work, we discuss current and emerging technologies and discuss the challenges associated to use them to deliver EMIs in mental health care. We focus on challenges and opportunities regarding information content and delivery in EMIs that can serve as potential avenues for future research in mental health and EMIs.

Automated summary

Ecological momentary interventions (EMIs) are provided to patients in their daily lives and natural settings to improve self-management of health. Technologies like smartphones make delivering EMIs easier, offering psychological support to mental health patients in their everyday lives. This work discusses current and emerging technologies, as well as challenges and opportunities in the information content and delivery of EMIs for mental health care, providing potential avenues for future research.