Tracking Mental Well-Being: Balancing Rich Sensing and Patient Needs

Abstract

Serious mental illnesses are among the most pressing public healthcare concerns. Continuous and unobtrusive sensing of social and physical functioning has tremendous potential to support lifelong health management by acting as an early warning system to detect changes in mental well-being, delivering context-aware micro-interventions to patients when and where they need them and significantly accelerating patients' understanding of their illness. We have presented a range of techniques from our previous and ongoing work to suggest how technologists can make significant advances in this area. While we are still shaping and evaluating these solutions, there is an opportunity for other researchers in our field to help ease the burden of SMIs by striking a balance between cutting-edge sensing and patient needs. This could empower patients by giving them a hand in their own treatment and ultimately lead to more effective, lower-cost treatment.