Description
In an era of modern technology, new and exciting opportunities to implement digital applications in mental health care are key to advancing the field of diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems in children and adolescents.
This course will provide students with insights in the opportunities, challenges and limitations of digital applications that have been developed to diminish social, behavioural and emotional problems.
Students will learn about digital interventions (such as serious games, virtual reality, online parent training and computerized cognitive training) that are available for clinical use within mental health care. Decisions to implement such techniques should be based on scientific evidence supporting effectiveness, embedded in the knowledge we have about (atypical) brain development, characteristics of the target population and ways to target psychological problems.
Considering the need to provide optimal and tailored mental health care for children and adolescents, students will learn to critically evaluate developments in the field of digital interventions, analyze their effectiveness, consider ethical aspects and reflect on implementation in different clinical contexts and for different clinical conditions.
Course objectives
By the end of the course, students are able to recognize ethical aspects of digital developments in mental health care.
By the end of the course, students are able to identify the challenges and opportunities of developing and implementing digital interventions in mental health care.
By the end of the course, students are able to recognize the specific needs of several paediatric psychiatric populations regarding digital applications in mental health care.
By the end of the course, students have insights into the development of novel digital applications in mental health care.
By the end of the course, students are able to interpret and critically evaluate scientific publications on digital interventions for psychiatric populations.
By the end of the course, students are able to communicate on scientific insights regarding digital interventions in mental health care.
Timetable
For the timetable of this course please refer to MyTimetable
Method of instruction
There will be lectures.
Method of assessment
The final grade is based upon a written exam and an essay. The written exam consists of multiple choice questions. The exam grade accounts for 55% of the final grade and the essay grade accounts for 45% of the final grade. The exam can be retaken once within the academic year in case of an insufficient exam grade.
The essay can be retaken once within the academic year in case of an insufficient essay grade.
The final grade should be sufficient (5,5 or higher) to pass the course. Students can pass the course with an insufficient score for the exam or essay, as long as the final grade is sufficient.
Furthermore, students are asked to develop part of a digital intervention. Students will provide peer feedback on this assignment.
Lastly, students will give a presentation on this assignment, which is evaluated individually (‘pass’/’fail’). In order to pass the course, the presentation should be evaluated as ‘pass’. The presentation can be retaken once within the academic year in case of a ‘fail’.
Students who have failed one or two components of the assessment (either the exam, essay or presentation), but passed the other component(s), can keep their sufficient components in the following academic year. This implies that students only need to retake the component(s) of the course in the next academic year that were evaluated as insufficient. If in the next academic year the missing component(s) is/are still insufficient, the student need to retake the course completely including the sufficient component.
Brightspace
During this course Brightspace will be used.
Reading list
Scientific publications, to be announced on Brightspace.
Registration
Education
Students must register themselves for all course components (lectures, tutorials and practicals) they wish to follow. You can register via My Studymap up to 5 days prior to the start of the course.
Exams
It is mandatory for all students to register for each exam and to confirm registration for each exam in My Studymap. This is possible up to and including 10 calendar days prior to the examination. You cannot take an exam without a valid pre-registration and confirmation in My Studymap.
NB If the exam concerns a paper or a practical assignment, you do not need to register in My Studymap.
Carefully read all information about the procedures and deadlines for registering for courses and exams.
Contact information
The co-ordinator of this course is dr. Carlijn Bergwerff.