International Developments

988 is a new number in the United States focused on providing lifesaving suicide prevention and crisis services, established to address longstanding concerns in mental health care. This article explores the difference between 988 and existing services.

Headspace Health, the provider of the world’s most accessible, comprehensive digital mental health platform, today announced the acquisition of Sayana, an AI-driven mental health and wellness company. Sayana will expand Headspace Health’s ability to provide personalized self-care content to its growing global member base.

Earlier this month, Meta announced it is working on a set of ethical guidelines for “virtual influencers” – animated, typically computer-generated, characters designed to attract attention on social media.

A policy brief from the World Health Organization offers strategies for combating ageism and bias in machine learning technologies. The brief, “Ageism in artificial intelligence for health,” proposes a wide range of measures to ensure older people are effectively engaged in the processes, technologies and services affecting them.  

This piece argues digital transformations should be considered as a key determinant of health, but also presses for a radical rethink on digital technologies, highlighting that without a precautionary, mission-oriented, and value-based approach to its governance, digital transformations will fail to bring about improvements in health for all.

This draft position statement was drafted by the Special Interest Group on Law and Ethics for eMHIC for presentation at the eMHIC Congress in November 2021.

Now more than ever, the global mental health community must look to innovative solutions to curtail the ‘second epidemic’ of mental ill-health sweeping the world. The Forum has partnered with Deloitte to create a set of standards to vet digital mental health solutions called the Global Governance Toolkit for Digital …

Like it or not, young people use social media all the time to talk about suicide-related thoughts, feelings and behaviours…So rather than to take the view that you shouldn’t talk about suicide on social media, we decided that it was important to develop some safety guidelines for young people who …

Commissioned by the Ministry of Health and developed by the Health Navigator Charitable Trust, the assessment framework – known as the Digital Mental Health & Addiction Tool (DMHAT) – will help anyone involved in the design, development and use of e-mental health tools to ensure the products meet acceptable quality …

Waze announced today it’s partnering with meditation app Headspace to roll out a new “Drive with Headspace” experience aimed at making commutes less stressful. The navigation app maker says the new integration is meant to help drivers learn how to “find more joy and meaning on the road.”