The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Digital Hub for Mental Health and the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) have published a joint collaborative framework to improve the mental health of communities in APEC economies. The collaboration, spearheaded by WONCA and the Digital Hub's Integration with Primary Care and Community Settings Work Group, led by Dr. Chee Ng, is now described in a paper published in the Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare.
The paper highlights gaps related to the integration of mental health into primary care across the region and identifies enablers and current best practices from several APEC economies, as well as the potential of digital technology to benefit primary mental health care for populations in the APEC region, including delivery of training programs for healthcare staff and access to resources for patients. Key next steps are proposed to promote enhanced integration into primary care and improve mental health care throughout the APEC region.
Learn more about the framework collaboration or read the open-access paper here.