Decentralized mental health services could be the answer to a looming shortage of mental health professionals, according to professors at Baltimore-based John Hopkins University.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Dr. Johannes Thrul of the John Hopkins School of Mental Health postulate that the mental health support sector could imitate the Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO) by offering support services in a decentralized system.
Dr. Thrul wrote a July 22 academic paper on “Web3 and digital mental health“, which envisions a decentralized peer support system that relies on “individuals with lived experience” to provide help “based on their experience in managing their own conditions.”
Dr. Thrul said the system would work by using a “community-linked crypto token” that would reward those who “make positive contributions to the community,” such as helping someone overcome a mental health issue in a peer support environment.
During a time when I find myself worried and anxious about the state of the world, it was fun working on this genuinely positive and uplifting opinion piece about the potential of web3 and online peer support for mental health. https://t.co/rEngiaOL3S
— Johannes Thrul (@drjthrul) July 22, 2022
He said the system would not be subject to “border restrictions” and noted how quickly governments had adapted to remote health delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic, while admitting he could not replace the conventional medical system with If only. Instead, it could be used to supplement a visit to a traditional psychologist.
Another professor who contributed to the academic paper, Dr. Luke Kalb, said that a decentralized system of peer support will provide more flexibility and freedom in how we approach mental health problemsstating:
“[The] the community can come up with their own creative ways to tackle problems […] this peer support system opens up a lot of opportunities for creativity.”
The professors noted that such a system may become essential in the future given the likelihood of a shortage of traditional mental health services in the future with “61% of practicing psychiatrists in the US nearing retirement.”
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The document also cited research from the Department of Health and Human Services that projects “a prolonged national workforce shortage in all mental health professionals by 2025”.
Although the professors have only just begun the early stages of the investigation, they hope to begin building the professional relationships necessary to make this happen. Dr. Thrul said, “it is difficult to find the right technical association with the same shared vision […] however, we want to post this as a call to read, unite, and communicate.”
