Human-Centered Design and Digital Transformation of Mental Health Services

Mental health services face a multitude of challenges, such as increasing demand, underfunding, and limited workforce capacity. The accelerated digital transformation of public services is positioned by government, the private sector, and some academic researchers as the solution. Alongsi...

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Main Authors: William Fleming, Adam Coutts, Diane Pochard, Daksha Trivedi, Kristy Sanderson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2025-08-01
Series:JMIR Human Factors
Online Access:https://humanfactors.jmir.org/2025/1/e66040
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author William Fleming
Adam Coutts
Diane Pochard
Daksha Trivedi
Kristy Sanderson
author_facet William Fleming
Adam Coutts
Diane Pochard
Daksha Trivedi
Kristy Sanderson
author_sort William Fleming
collection DOAJ
description Mental health services face a multitude of challenges, such as increasing demand, underfunding, and limited workforce capacity. The accelerated digital transformation of public services is positioned by government, the private sector, and some academic researchers as the solution. Alongside this, human-centered design has emerged as a guiding paradigm for this transformation to ensure user needs are met. We define what digital transformation and human-centered design are, how they are implemented in the UK policy context, and their role within the evolving delivery of mental health services. The involvement of one of our coauthors (DP) in the design and delivery of these policies over the past 5 years provides unique insights into the decision-making process and policy story. We review the promises, pitfalls, and ongoing challenges identified across a multidisciplinary literature. Finally, we propose future research questions and policy options to ensure that services are designed and delivered to meet the mental health needs of the population.
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publishDate 2025-08-01
publisher JMIR Publications
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series JMIR Human Factors
spelling doaj-art-ac21cdcf93f34f5e838cd594ff5e3c7d2025-08-20T03:03:15ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Human Factors2292-94952025-08-0112e6604010.2196/66040Human-Centered Design and Digital Transformation of Mental Health ServicesWilliam Fleminghttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4724-9837Adam Couttshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5167-6591Diane Pochardhttps://orcid.org/0009-0001-5268-9060Daksha Trivedihttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7572-4113Kristy Sandersonhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3132-2745 Mental health services face a multitude of challenges, such as increasing demand, underfunding, and limited workforce capacity. The accelerated digital transformation of public services is positioned by government, the private sector, and some academic researchers as the solution. Alongside this, human-centered design has emerged as a guiding paradigm for this transformation to ensure user needs are met. We define what digital transformation and human-centered design are, how they are implemented in the UK policy context, and their role within the evolving delivery of mental health services. The involvement of one of our coauthors (DP) in the design and delivery of these policies over the past 5 years provides unique insights into the decision-making process and policy story. We review the promises, pitfalls, and ongoing challenges identified across a multidisciplinary literature. Finally, we propose future research questions and policy options to ensure that services are designed and delivered to meet the mental health needs of the population.https://humanfactors.jmir.org/2025/1/e66040
spellingShingle William Fleming
Adam Coutts
Diane Pochard
Daksha Trivedi
Kristy Sanderson
Human-Centered Design and Digital Transformation of Mental Health Services
JMIR Human Factors
title Human-Centered Design and Digital Transformation of Mental Health Services
title_full Human-Centered Design and Digital Transformation of Mental Health Services
title_fullStr Human-Centered Design and Digital Transformation of Mental Health Services
title_full_unstemmed Human-Centered Design and Digital Transformation of Mental Health Services
title_short Human-Centered Design and Digital Transformation of Mental Health Services
title_sort human centered design and digital transformation of mental health services
url https://humanfactors.jmir.org/2025/1/e66040
work_keys_str_mv AT williamfleming humancentereddesignanddigitaltransformationofmentalhealthservices
AT adamcoutts humancentereddesignanddigitaltransformationofmentalhealthservices
AT dianepochard humancentereddesignanddigitaltransformationofmentalhealthservices
AT dakshatrivedi humancentereddesignanddigitaltransformationofmentalhealthservices
AT kristysanderson humancentereddesignanddigitaltransformationofmentalhealthservices