The Convergence Collaboration Me-Health innoVatoRs focuses on Virtual Reality based solutions in mental healthcare.
One in every two people worldwide experiences a mental illness, which significantly impacts individuals, families, and communities in terms of quality of life and socioeconomic burden. The corresponding costs in Europe alone are estimated over €600 billion. Reliable and timely diagnosis and treatment are expected to significantly reduce these costs. However, currently clinical evaluations fail to encapsulate the richness and complexity of real-life situations, and consider a “one-size-fits-all” principle rather than personalized methods that fit the individual characteristics and needs of patients.
Virtual reality (VR) has been proven to provide solutions that address these challenges. Such solutions, however, are not yet developed systematically nor are they adopted by end-users like patients and clinicians.
We will significantly improve the well-being and quality of life of patients, families and communities by enabling earlier diagnosis and by increasing the success rates and accessibility of effective treatment methods.
Prof.dr. M.J. (Matthias) Wieser
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Full professor | Department of Clinical Psychology
Aim
The aim of Me-Health innoVatoRs is to improve early diagnosis (WP1) and treatment (WP2) across mental disorders by feasible and acceptable (WP3) intelligent VR-based solutions. With Me-Health innoVatoRs, researchers will establish a sustainable collaboration that will result in a national expertise center focused on intelligent VR-based solutions in mental healthcare.
Foundations
The Collaboration will start with the development of innovative VR-based solutions and the corresponding scientific groundwork for personalized diagnosis and treatment of frontotemporal dementia and social anxiety disorder. These solutions will be implemented and generalised to provide foundations for long-term sustainability of Me-Health innoVatoRs. In the second stage, the innovators will adopt and further develop solutions for other mental disorders (e.g., addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, autism), and for at home VR-based treatment.
Me-Health innoVatoRs will significantly improve the well-being and quality of life of patients, families and communities by enabling earlier diagnosis and by increasing the success rates and accessibility of effective treatment methods. Consequently, the core costs for societies will significantly decrease, due to a reduction of patients entering specialized mental healthcare, shorter waiting lists, and a reduced burden on clinicians
