IAG Mental Health Policy & Digitization


The Integrated Working Group on Mental Health Policy & Digitization is researching how digitalization enables fair, consistent, and integrated mental health care. Two core questions guide our work:


  1. What health system conditions are needed to enable equitable, consistent, needs-oriented and integrated psychiatric care?
  2. What contribution can mHealth, telemedicine and open digital information structures make to this?



The aim is to critically examine digitalization and economization with the aim of developing concepts, models and applications for sustainable recovery-oriented psychiatric healthcare.


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Current projects

OpenNOTES

Online access to clinical treatment notes for outpatients


In a growing number of countries, patients are gaining access to their physicians' clinical notes (so-called "Open Notes") via online portals. In Germany, this option is not yet available within standard care. The OpenNOTES study (duration: March 2025 - February 2028) examines (1) the impact of Open Notes on patient empowerment, (2) the use of artificial intelligence for patient-centered formulation of clinical notes, and (3) possibilities for implementing Open Notes in standard care. OpenNOTES stands for "Online Access to Clinical Treatment Notes for Outpatients." The project is funded by the Innovation Fund of the Joint Federal Committee and is being conducted in close cooperation with the IMVR (Institute for Medical Sociology, Health Services Research and Rehabilitation Science) at the University of Cologne and the Brandenburg University of Technology (THB).

DigiNavi

Digital Navigators for Acceptance and Competence Development with Mental Health Apps.


Digital health applications (DiGAs) can improve mental health and provide timely primary care to underserved populations. However, they have so far been used only rarely in Germany. Human guidance can strengthen engagement with DiGAs. As part of the pilot project "Digital Navigators for Acceptance and Competence Development" (DigiNavi), running from July 2024 to July 2025, medical team members will be trained as DiGA experts, known as digital navigators, and implemented as exemplary tools in primary care and outpatient psychiatric care in various rural regions of Brandenburg. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Health and is being carried out in close cooperation with national (MH Hannover, TU Braunschweig) and international (Harvard Medical School, USA) universities. Further information can be found on our project website (www.diginavi.de).