Data and Digital

Workstream leads

Main location of work

The universities/NHS/other organisations that contribute to the work are:

Workstream overview

Data and digital technologies are key to achieving the MHM’s objective of the discovery of innovative new treatments and the development of more precise treatments and interventions in mental health. The workstream aim is to enable these technologies to be used efficiently and consistently in the development and evaluation of new treatments for mental health disorders. This is being done by unlocking the potential of routinely collected data, harnessing new forms of data for measurements and outcomes and leveraging informatics for a trial platform.

Why the work is important

Mental health research has significantly advanced through the integration of data and digital technologies, such as digital phenotyping, passive sensing and wearable devices. These innovations, combined with robust digital infrastructure, have the potential to improve clinical trials by enhanced follow-up, better informed trial designed (through emulation), rapidly identifying eligible participants, streamlining recruitment, helping achieve unbiased randomisation, and enabling real-time data collection, as well as connectivity with real-world outcomes. This leads to faster, larger-scale trials with improved data quality and participant engagement, ultimately accelerating the development of innovative mental health treatments.

Aim

The overarching aim of this workstream is to enable data and digital technologies to be used efficiently and consistently in the development and evaluation of new treatments for mental health disorders. This will be achieved by unlocking the potential of routinely collected data, harnessing new forms of data for measurements and outcomes and leveraging informatics for trials platform.

Planned work packages and objectives

• Work package 1: Collaboration and Implementation – supporting the demonstrator centres, M-RIC and MTC, along with the MHM workstreams Children and Young People’s Mental Health, Early Psychosis, Mood Disorders and Capacity Development to develop infrastructure reliant on data and digital technology as well as informing strategy and priorities for work packages 2 and 3
• Work package 2: Informatics for Trials from Electronic Health Records (EHR) – Informed by strategic priorities identified in work package 1, to develop and provide an atlas of clinical phenotypes and outcomes from EHRs and other routinely collected datasets, to facilitate recruitment into and assessment of outcomes in trials. As a component of this process, Professor Rob Stewart at King’s College London, will lead on developing a robust NLP architecture to capture text-recorded entities from EHRs and transcribed speech collected from devices
• Work package 3: Person Generated Health Data (PGHD) – Using smartphones and wearable technologies, Professor Richard Dobson at King’s College London, will lead on capturing patient data for use in research and trials. This includes developing and standardising software for collecting, pre-processing and extracting features from data collected from smartphones and wearables. PPIEP will be key in the development of best-practice research throughout to ensure optimal levels of engagement and compliance.

Patient and public involvement, engagement, and participation (PPIEP)

Patient and public involvement, engagement and participation play a vital role in the use and applications of data and digital technologies in mental health research. Issues that are being addressed in this workstream include but are not limited to topics related to digital inequalities and access to services across different groups. This workstream is working closely with the PPIEP leads to ensure the voices of people with lived experience of mental health issues as well as the wider public are heard and listened to.

Increasing research capacity

Collaboration with the Capacity Development workstream will focus on the development of training materials and the upskilling of the workforce to employ the outputs of this Work Stream. Working alongside the Training and Capacity Core Activity in DATAMIND will facilitate the broad dissemination of outputs and training of the mental health workforce to increase capacity and adoption initially in the demonstrator sites and then expanding within the other MHM workstreams.