Some 27 million kroner, including 19 million kroner from the innovation investment fund Innovationsfonden, is being invested in researching the use of technology in treating people with psychiatric conditions such as depression and personality disorders, DR reports.
The money will go to Telepsykiatrisk Center in Odense, a department under the Southern Denmark regional health authority that is home to Denmark’s first research centre in the burgeoning field of telepsychiatry, which is the delivery of psychiatric care using telecommunications technology such as videoconferencing.
More research needed
Claus Færch, the head of Telepsykiatrisk Center, welcomed the investment and sees the need for more research.
“We need more knowledge about how the treatment works for the patient. We simply need to know more about what it is like to use these tools,” he said.
One of the projects that will benefit from the funding involves patients sending information about their mental state on a daily basis via an app to give their therapist information between consultations and to help shed light on what leads to improvements.
This project is already underway with eight patients in Svendborg in southern Funen, but will soon be expanded to 20 patients and, with the new funding, eventually cater to 160 patients across the country.
