Mental health conditions are a critical public health priority, representing a significant morbidity burden with substantial economic and social costs. Despite increased public spending, mental health outcomes have not improved, leading to worsening quality of life and unsustainable pressure on health services. Digital mental health technologies (DMHTs) have been identified as a potential way to address these systemic challenges by offering scalable, high-quality, and accessible mental health care. However, without a strong focus on equity, DMHTs risk causing harm to patients and reinforcing existing disparities.

This article provides an overview of a proposed equity-centred regulatory toolkit, with a more detailed publication to follow. The proposed toolkit is intended to support regulators and developers in embedding equity considerations into regulatory and development workflows, with the aim of helping DMHTs reduce, rather than exacerbate, patient risk and mental health inequalities. The article also seeks to raise awareness of how equity can be more effectively integrated into digital mental health regulation.

An expert review of regulatory guidance from the UK, the European Union, and the United States highlights that regulatory systems have already taken important initial steps toward addressing equity. The authors suggest there is now an opportunity to build on this foundation by more explicitly considering real-world barriers such as affordability, digital literacy, and patient engagement.

This contribution adds momentum to global efforts to ensure digital mental health innovation translates into high-quality, inclusive care at scale.

Learn more about the proposed toolkit here.

Author Credit: Dr Janagan Alagarajah, Dr Andreas A Roussakis, Bethan Gilligan, Holly Coole and Ellen Thomas