From regional summits and think tanks to virtual webinars, we’re constantly bringing our global network together, wherever they are.
Globally, the demand for mental health support is greater than the supply of traditional mental health services. Using digital tools, often referred to as Digital Mental Health, allows service users to access timely care, information, and treatment at a time and place of their choosing. eMHIC aims to improve mental health outcomes for all by harnessing digital technologies.
Internationally recognized as the global peak body in Digital Mental Health, eMHIC facilitates digital mental health collaboration and knowledge exchange across borders, creates robust collaborative networks of experts and thought leaders, promotes self-help solutions, fosters innovation, raises awareness and generates international best practice.
Our global community is working towards a future where all populations have access to safe and effective digitally enabled mental health support, ranging from mental health promotion and prevention to screening, treatment, and social support.
Through enabling support and recovery at a time and place of a person’s choosing, such initiatives are a vehicle to promote and achieve population wellbeing and prevention of mental ill-health or distress.
The mission of eMHIC is to support and enable international collaboration and knowledge exchange to foster global best practice in Digital Mental Health.
As a single international point of reference, eMHIC’s collaborative platform enables key Digital Mental Health leaders to learn from each other’s successes and challenges in Digital Mental Health implementation.
Shared learning creates tangible, compounding benefits, helping to rapidly transform the current level of Digital Mental Health care into one befitting all populations.
Our principles reflect our core values and the mission that unites our global community:
Take a glance at the history of eMHIC’s work and it’s position today in the global mental health ecosystem.
2011
A group of senior mental health leaders wrote a white paper entitled “eTherapies” for the Board of the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL). IIMHL was an international collaboration of mental health professionals in nine countries.That paper elicited considerable interest from the IIMHL Board and gave birth to an eMental Health working group.
2012–2014
With growing international interest, the working group developed a life of its own and evolved into the eMental Health International Collaborative (eMHIC). Senior leaders from Sweden, the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand provided foundational support.
eMHIC Board, 2019: The founding board members included: Christine Morgan, Derek McCormack, Fredrik Lindencrona, Louise Bradley, Anil Thapliyal, Laurianne Reinsborough, and Fran Silvestri (left to right).
2015
Auckland University of Technology (AUT) in New Zealand, through its Centre for eHealth, provided crucial early-stage support. This was followed by endorsements from key organizations:
2014–2021
2020–Present
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital mental health adoption, making digital solutions a core part of mental health care. There is now widespread interest and acceptance of digital mental health interventions by policy makers, practitioners, and people with lived experience.
Today
Once considered fringe, digital mental health is now a vital component of global mental health care, driving collaboration, innovation, and better outcomes for all populations.
Looking ahead, eMHIC will continue to expand and strengthen its role as the central collaborative hub in the global digital mental health domain, steadily advancing progress towards UN Sustainable Development Goal #3: ‘Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’.
The successful formation of eMHIC can be attributed to its focus on achieving balanced collaboration across the following five core industry groups, recognising the immense unique value each brings to improving global mental health outcomes:
Our goals reflect our commitment to advancing our mission across the interconnected global mental health ecosystem.
Support Digital Mental Health service quality and practice based on evidence and culture of improvement .
Work with other international organisations to encourage the proliferation of Digital Mental Health solutions.
Promote Digital Mental Health’s role in strengthening population mental health, through preventative self-help and collective-help approaches.
Increase understanding of the effectiveness of Digital Mental Health solutions, providing alternate approaches for treatment, social and peer support and reducing stigma.
Create an international network of innovators to exchange knowledge, identify current gaps and explore opportunities for development of solutions, adoption and adaptation of international best practice, scalability, and partnership strategies for Digital Mental Health.
Facilitate and enable effective leadership exchanges in order to identify and share information about implementation of Digital Mental Health solutions, workforce development and change management.
eMHIC offers tailored partnership pathways for those leading the digital mental health space.
Whether as a Strategic Partner, with high-level engagement in sector development and exclusive invitations to global events; a Growth Partner, driving innovation and collaboration with unique opportunities for thought leadership; or a Global Community Member, joining a vibrant network of advocates and experts—each tier provides access to exclusive benefits and the chance to shape the future of digital mental health.
Learn more about how to engage, connect, and lead with eMHIC.
