Digital Health and Digital Therapeutics (DTx) in Mental Health: Innovation for more accessible and effective care

by Pedro Vergara, April 23, 2025

According to the 2023 Annual Report for the National System of Health, 34% of the Spanish population suffers from some mental health condition, including anxiety and depression. If we consider the population older than 50, the prevalence rises to 40%, and in adults older than 85, half of the people show one of these conditions. In adolescents, according to the 2023 Youth Barometer of Health and Wellness, 15.6% of those between 15 and 19 state that they often experience some condition with these characteristics.

In addition to these numbers, we note that these patients typically have difficulty accessing professional care, whether because of high cost and/or lack of resources compared to the demand, and also experience social isolation, along with impacts on thought, feelings, mood, and behavior. Because of this, Digital Health and Digital Therapeutics (DTx) offer significant potential in the treatment of these conditions, providing multiple benefits to patients as well as healthcare professionals:

- They improve access to care and reduce costs, by helping to meet the high demand for mental health services, offering prompt and scalable solutions.
- They offer continuous monitoring of the patient and promote personalization of treatment.
- They enable the provider to detect changes in the patient, enabling early intervention when necessary.

In this context, Digital Therapeutics (DTx)—because they have been clinically validated—are already providing evidence about these conditions, demonstrating improvements in accessibility and personalization of treatments, and offering alternatives in the face of the growing demand for services in this clinical area. In the same way, they are contributing to improvement in therapeutic adherence, one of the clinical outcomes of great interest. This was demonstrated by a study in which it was observed that the group treated with conventional therapy accompanied by a DTx had a 50% higher probability of continuing treatment.

In addition, by utilizing technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and a connection with wearables and other devices, these solutions provide early detection of changes in the patient, whether because of the patient-reported information or through passive elements like digital biomarkers. These are very important in the mental health area, where certain behaviors, moods, etc. of the patient can provide significant information about his or her health and general status. This enables the provider to intervene in a timely way and prevent major complications, moving toward healthcare that is more preventive instead of reactive.

It is important to highlight the point that these platforms do not replace the healthcare professionals, rather they become a therapeutic tool that supports their work. Advances in technology and AI in this field are along with treatment guided by expert professionals, and Digital Health and Digital Therapeutics are suitable options for their use.

As we have seen, Digital Health and DTx are offering important contributions in the field of mental health. These solutions provide continuous monitoring and care that is more personalized and accessible, yet at a lower cost. Because of this, their use, complementing conventional therapy, will encourage the development of care that is more patient-centered, and with help reduce the gap between supply and demand, in turn improving clinical outcomes for the patients.