Keeping COVID out: a collaborative approach to COVID-19 is associated with a significant reduction in self-harm in young people in custody.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the collaboration between Youth Justice New South Wales (YJNSW) and Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network (JHFMHN) during the early COVID-19 Response (CR) across the six Youth Justice centres in NSW, and the reduced incidence of self-harm noted over this period. METHODS: Narrative article with analysis of self-harm incident data during the initial CR period of March to May 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. RESULTS: During the initial CR period (March to May 2020), there was a highly significant, four-fold reduction in self-harming incidents recorded by both YJNSW and JHFMHN compared with the equivalent time period in 2019 (p < .00001). CONCLUSION: The greater than four-fold reduction in self-harm by young people during the early CR may relate to the 'interagency response', with an increase in positive interactions between staff, and between staff and young people. The reduction in self-harm and improvements in mental health will be further explored through standardised interviews with the young people and staff.

A Systematic Review of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Behavioral Activation Apps for Depression.

Depression is a common mental health condition for which many mobile apps aim to provide support. This review aims to identify self-help apps available exclusively for people with depression and evaluate those that offer cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or behavioural activation (BA). One hundred and seventeen apps have been identified after searching both the scientific literature and the commercial market. 10.26% (n = 12) of these apps identified through our search offer support that seems to be consistent with evidence-based principles of CBT or BA. Taking into account the non existence of effectiveness/efficacy studies, and the low level of adherence to the core ingredients of the CBT/BA models, the utility of these CBT/BA apps are questionable. The usability of reviewed apps is highly variable and they rarely are accompanied by explicit privacy or safety policies. Despite the growing public demand, there is a concerning lack of appropiate CBT or BA apps, especially from a clinical and legal point of view. The application of superior scientific, technological, and legal knowledge is needed to improve the development, testing, and accessibility of apps for people with depression.

Commercially available mobile phone headache diary apps: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Headache diaries are often used by headache sufferers to self-monitor headaches. With advances in mobile technology, mobile electronic diary apps are becoming increasingly common. OBJECTIVE: This review aims to identify and evaluate all commercially available mobile headache diary apps for the two most popular mobile phone platforms, iOS and Android. METHODS: The authors developed a priori a set of 7 criteria that define an ideal headache diary app intended to help headache sufferers better understand and manage their headaches, while providing relevant data to health professionals. The app criteria were intended as minimum requirements for an acceptable headache diary app that could be prescribed by health care professionals. Each app was evaluated and scored against each criterion. RESULTS: Of the 38 apps identified, none of the apps met all 7 app criteria. The 3 highest scoring apps, meeting 5 of the app criteria, were iHeadache (developed by Better QOL), ecoHeadache (developed by ecoTouchMedia), and Headache Diary Pro (developed by Froggyware). Only 18% of the apps were created with scientific or clinical headache expertise and none of the apps reported on psychometric properties. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the growing market and demand, there is a concerning lack of scientific expertise and evidence base associated with headache diary apps.