Challenges and possible solutions in cross-disciplinary and cross-sectorial research teams within the domain of e-mental health

Tine Nordgreen,Smiti Kahlon,Jo Dugstad Wake,Fazle Rabbi,Suresh Kumar Mukhiya,Astri J Lundervold,Yngvar Sigmund Skar,Farzan Majeed Noori,Frode Guribye,Kristine Fonnes Griffin,Yngve Lamo,Amin Aminifar,Petter Jakobsen,Åsa Hammar,Ulysse Côté-Allard,Hoang Minh Pham ,Robin Maria Francisca Kenter ,Jim Tørresen ,Ragnhild Johanne Tveit Sekse ,Yavuz İnal ,Eivind Flobak ,Emilie Sektnan Nordby ,Sunniva Brurok Myklebost

doi:10.1108/jet-03-2021-0013

Abstract

PurposeMental illness presents a huge individual, societal and economic challenges, currently accounting for 20% of the worldwide burden of disease. There is a gap between the need for and access to services. Digital technology has been proven effective in e-mental health for preventing and treating mental health problems. However, there is a need for cross-disciplinary efforts to increase the impact of e-mental health services. This paper aims to report key challenges and possible solutions for cross-disciplinary and cross-sectorial research teams within the domain of e-mental health.Design/methodology/approachThe key challenges and possible solutions will be discussed in light of the literature on effective cross-disciplinary research teams.FindingsSix topics have been key challenges in our cross-disciplinary and cross-sectorial research team: to develop a shared understanding of the domain; to establish a common understanding of key concepts among the project participants; to involve the end-users in the research and development process; to collaborate across sectors; to ensure privacy and security of health data; and to obtain the right timing of activities according to project dependencies.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focuses to increase knowledge and training in cross-disciplinary and cross-sectorial research, as this is often referred to as an important tool when developing sustainable solutions for major societal challenges.Practical implicationsThis study needs to include theory and skills training in cross-disciplinary research in research training.Social implicationsCross-disciplinary teams have the potential to address major societal challenges, including more perspectives and more stakeholders than single disciplinary research teams.Originality/valueMajor societal challenges require complex and sustainable solutions. However, there is a lack of knowledge about how cross-disciplinary and cross-sectorial research teams may work productively to solve these challenges. This paper shares experiences regarding the challenges and possible solutions for productive collaboration in cross-disciplinary and cross-sectorial research teams within the domain of e-mental health services.

Highlights

Digital technology has been proven effective in e-mental health for preventing and treating mental health problems (Titov et al, 2018; Kahlon et al, 2019)
This challenge cannot be handled by one discipline or sector alone, and there is a need for collaboration between stakeholders, including end-users, and various research disciplines such as psychology, psychiatry, machine learning, data modeling and human– computer interaction (HCI) (Blandford, 2019)
The six key challenges and possible solutions in our cross-disciplinary team in the domain of e-mental health described above include the following key topics: understanding the domain, finding a common language, the involvement of end-users, collaboration across sectors, privacy and security and timing of activities. These topics resonate with existing theories (Lindgreen et al, 2019) and previous research, including a recent literature review of empirical studies examining barriers and enablers of effective cross-disciplinary research teams (Ding et al, 2020)

Summary

To develop a shared understanding of the domain

Challenge: To realize and acknowledge the state of affairs in the domain of regular mental healthcare services is challenging in a time where we are surrounded by user-friendly and persuasive technologies where we receive information and offers based on our previous use of digital tools (Karekla et al, 2019). The requirements for privacy and security and the existing approaches to procurement in health-care services are major barriers to such levels of personalization and usability With this background, it is challenging to explain and understand the current state of user-friendly, data-driven and interoperable digital health services (Mukhiya et al, 2019). “Experimentation” is defined as activities that include developing and using novel technologies such as unprecedented types of data sources or devices or data analyses based on machine learning algorithms These activities have a higher risk and are a long way from innovation and research besides clinical trials and implementation in regular care. Our experience is that such activities ensure that research questions and relevant personnel from different domains develop common goals and a common language in each subproject This process ensures that research questions from different disciplines are included in applications for ethical approval

To involve the end-users in the research and development process

To collaborate across sectors

To ensure privacy and security of health data

To obtain the right timing of activities according to project dependencies

Findings

Discussion