Digital Mental Health for People with Chronic Conditions: experiences, impact and interventions

About 60% of people live with a chronic illness, such as eczema, epilepsy or a cleft lip. This ranges from 25% in children to 96% in people aged 75 and older. A chronic illness is defined as a condition that lasts longer than three months, recurs more than three times a year and/or is related to long-term use of medication, treatment or help (van Hal et al., 2019). According to the WHO, chronic conditions are conditions that require ongoing management over a period of years or decades. Living with a chronic illness often involves facing recurrent or long-term physical health issues, frequent medical treatment, and ongoing medication use. These experiences, alongside social and psychological stressors, contribute to an elevated risk of mental health difficulties, including depression, anxiety, and body image concerns.

The growing reach of digital environments, such as social media, online communities and artificial intelligence (AI), has been shown to have a variety of positive and negative effects for individuals. More clarity is needed on the broader applications and consequences of these environments, particularly in specific population subset like people with chronic illnesses. Digital interventions can provide significant support by offering accessible and innovative ways to prevent or treat mental health issues. Examples include mobile phone apps, chatbots (conversational agents), telehealth services, and social media-based interventions, which have shown promise for delivering timely psychological support and informational resources. Digital interventions can be both self-guided, as well as blended and can be deployed directly into people's lives, without much interference from healthcare professionals.

These solutions offer accessible support and may help address gaps in traditional care. However, uncertainties persist regarding their uptake, effectiveness, acceptability, user engagement and implementation. Ongoing debates about best practices and the specific needs of different age and patient groups continue to occur. This Research Topic aims to explore how digital interventions can shape mental health care for people with chronic conditions. Studies should illustrate the types of digital environments, how these digital environments can impact users with chronic conditions and highlight the best practices for implementing digital interventions within traditional care approaches.

Submissions are encouraged to address digital mental health interventions and the psychosocial impact of digital environments for individuals with chronic conditions, without restriction as to age or type of condition. This includes research across the entire lifespan (including children, adolescents, adult and older adults) and studies on people with a visible difference or appearance-altering conditions. We welcome both quantitative and qualitative manuscript submissions, and manuscripts exploring the lived or psychosocial impact of digital mental health environments and interventions.

We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Mental health challenges and needs among children, young adults, and older adults with chronic somatic conditions
- Digital interventions for individuals with appearance-altering conditions or visible differences
- The psychosocial impact of social media, online forums, and digital communities
- Implementation and acceptability of digital health technologies
- Methodological innovations and evidence from quantitative and qualitative research
- Prevention, early intervention, and self-guided vs. blended digital care models

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review

Keywords: chronic illness, digital mental health, digital interventions, digital, mental health, mental illness, evidence-based care

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.