Precision Mental Health and Data-Informed Decision Support in Psychological Therapy: An Example.

Abstract

Outcome measurement including data-informed decision support for therapists in psychological therapy has developed impressively over the past two decades. New technological developments such as computerized data assessment, and feedback tools have facilitated advanced implementation in several seetings. Recent developments try to improve the clinical decision-making process by connecting clinical practice better with empirical data. For example, psychometric data can be used by clinicians to personalize the selection of therapeutic programs, strategies or modules and to monitor a patient's response to therapy in real time. Furthermore, clinical support tools can be used to improve the treatment for patients at risk for a negative outcome. Therefore, measurement-based care can be seen as an important and integral part of clinical competence, practice, and training. This is comparable to many other areas in the healthcare system, where continuous monitoring of health indicators is common in day-to-day clinical practice (e.g., fever, blood pressure). In this paper, we present the basic concepts of a data-informed decision support system for tailoring individual psychological interventions to specific patient needs, and discuss the implications for implementing this form of precision mental health in clinical practice.