Background: The direct and indirect impact of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its mitigation measures have exacerbated the global mental health crisis. Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) may have the potential to address health system gaps and global health inequalities in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Purpose: This thesis aims to map the current state of DMHIs available in Nigeria and illustrate their progress, limitations, and challenges. This study aims to expand upon the findings of recent studies in LMICs by incorporating the perspectives of individuals who play a prominent role in global mental health. The lessons learned in the Nigerian context can inform the delivery of DMHIs in other low-resource settings. Methods: This research was conducted using case study methodology. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with mental health researchers, healthcare providers, digital health experts and policy makers. Data sources such as news articles, websites, research papers, and interviews were used. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and data from multiple sources were then converged, coded, and analyzed using Dedoose via thematic analysis. Findings: The vast majority of DMHIs in Nigeria are private mental health service delivery platforms that connect directly to mental health professionals. The target audience for most DMHIs are broad and encompass all mental health conditions and ages. Advantages of DMHIs include increasing efficiency, accessibility, addressing stigma, and filling the mental health service gap. Disadvantages include skepticism in DMHIs, limitations of applicability, lack of accessibility to internet and technology, lack of sustainability, and lack of infrastructure, funding, and policies. Conclusions: There is a need to leverage DMHIs within the Nigerian population for mental health promotion. Future research should examine feedback from users and providers of DMHIs to allow for comparative analysis, more conclusive and replicable results to inform DMHI design and implementation. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

No / Improving Inclusion: Developing An Innovative Technology Assisted Learning Package for a UK Recovery College for Mental Health Service Users. Recovery Colleges in the UK represent a new initiative in providing support and psycho-educational interventions for people with mental health difficulties as part of the 'Recovery movement' (Williams, 2016; Perkins and Slade, 2012). Multiple barriers exist for people with mental health difficulties, particularly among ethnic minorities) in accessing such services and include (but are not limited to) -financial problems, difficulties with transport, condition-related difficulties - (e.g. poor motivation, organisational difficulties or feeling unwell) (Memon et al.,2015). To overcome this we put together a collaborative research project with a technology business partners service users and service providers to develop a new technology assisted learning project to ease access to the College's taught sessions. This involved developing sophisticated video-recording and streaming software and hardware that could 64 live-broadcast college sessions to users in their own homes via a variety of hardware platforms. Users could participate in the taught sessions by means of the video/sound interactive software on tablets, mobile devices or their home computer. The innovative features of the TAL package are described, and the impact this facility had on user participation in the college programme evaluated. Particular attention is paid to the development and partnership nature of the project development. The implications for Recovery College and mental health service provider practice is discussed with particular reference to the potential future wider application of TAL packages to promoting access across other domains of mental health care.

There has been a stigma attached to mental health for years, with many people afraid to seek help from mental health professionals due to negative stereotypes about those seeking help. Young adults in particular are still reluctant in regards to seeing a therapist since they are ashamed, do not want to show weakness or they perceive their need for therapy as low. Since the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered many mental disorders of different kinds, numerous therapists have been fully booked, and the demand has been higher than the supply. Digital mental health apps aim to counteract the problem and help as many people as possible who either cannot get appointments with therapists or are not able to afford therapy sessions. The latest technologies, such as emotion-based Artificial Intelligence (Emotion AI), utilize many data sets and algorithms, which enable the system to learn and interpret human emotions through various verbal and non-verbal signals like voice recognition, text analysis, or face tracking. At the same time, the apps work as digital therapists who aim to help the user.  This research explores how emotion-based AI as a technology used in mental health applications can contribute to help young adults ranging from around 15 to 30 years of age, who are considered the age group suffering from symptoms of depression the most, but hesitate to see a therapist. By conducting a comparative study and quality assessment of three AIbased mental health apps and interviewing experts in Machine Learning and psychology on their points of view, this research project aims to gain qualitative data and, consequently, to obtain more insights on this topic. This research indicates that a complete replacement of face-to-face therapy is not yet imaginable because the human factor is considered inevitable in a therapy setting. However, most experts interviewed for this research stated that AI-based apps in mental healthcare can be seen as an additional supportive tool or coach on the side while seeing an actual therapist in face-to-face-sessions, either in person or through video calls, providing helpful content and exercises. In addition, these tools can bridge the waiting time between therapy sessions or function as a preventive solution for young adults. / Psykisk hälsa har i många år varit stigmatiserat, och många människor är rädda för att söka hjälp hos psykologer på grund av negativa stereotyper om dem som söker hjälp. Särskilt unga vuxna är fortfarande tveksamma när det gäller att träffa en terapeut eftersom de skäms eller inte vill visa svaghet. Eftersom COVID-19-pandemin har varit en utlösande faktor för många depressioner och psykiska störningar av olika slag så har många terapeuter varit fullbokade. Detta har gjort att efterfrågan på hjälp har varit större än utbudet som finns att tillgå. Digitala appar för psykisk hälsa har som syfte att motverka problemet och hjälpa så många människor som möjligt, antingen när det inte finns tillgängliga terapeuter för samtal eller när personen inte har råd med terapisamtal. Den senaste tekniken, såsom känslobaserad AI, utnyttjar en stor mängd data som gör det möjligt för systemet att lära sig att tolka mänskliga känslor genom olika verbala och icke-verbala signaler som till exempel röstigenkänning, textanalys eller ansiktsspårning. Samtidigt fungerar apparna som en digital terapeut som syftar till att hjälpa användaren. I denna studie undersöks i vilken utsträckning som känslobaserad AI, tillämpad i digitala lösningar för psykisk hälsa, kan bidra till att hjälpa unga vuxna i åldern 15-30 år som anses vara den åldersgrupp som lider mest av depressionssymptom. Genom att genomföra en jämförande studie, en kvalitetsbedömning av tre AI-baserade appar för psykisk hälsa samt intervjua experter inom maskininlärning och psykologi om deras synpunkter är syftet med detta forskningsprojekt att få kvalitativ data och därmed fler insikter om detta ämne. Resultaten av denna studie indikerar att en ersättning av terapisamtal med en person eller terapi via videosamtal ännu ej är tänkbar eftersom den mänskliga faktorn anses vara icke ersättningsbar. Majoriteten av de experter som intervjuades för den här forskningen uppgav dock att AI-baserade appar inom psykiatrin kan ses som ett extra stödverktyg eller en coach vid sidan av mötet med en riktig terapeut (antingen personligen eller genom videosamtal), med hjälp av användbart innehåll och övningar. Dessutom kan dessa verktyg överbrygga väntetiden mellan terapisessionerna eller fungera som en förebyggande lösning för unga vuxna.