Maintaining Changed Behaviour With Incentives: The Potential Of Web 3.0 In Mental Health Treatment Through Digital Token Rewards

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By Kyle Anthony, Benzinga

Initiating change in one’s life often begins with acquiring the fortitude to reflect and realize that it is needed, followed by taking action to actualize it. However, enacting change and achieving progress is never linear, and for many, support is needed along the pathway to betterment. In the field of substance abuse treatment, contingency management has shown evidence of being an efficacious methodology for treating the problem behavior of individuals. The learnings from contingency management in behavioral treatment may have some applicability in supporting mental health. Elevate Health and Wellness, a clinic specializing in mental health and addiction treatment for adolescents and adults, is exploring this possibility by leveraging the capabilities of Web 3.0 in their treatment plans with patients.

Contingency Management Explained

Dr. Nancy M. Petry, Ph.D.’s extensive research on contingency management highlights its efficacious nature is rooted in the principles of basic behavioral analysis, more specifically, habit formation. Research on the success of contingency management as a treatment methodology has been proven in controlled trials and qualified by stakeholders in the field of psychology. In The Psychiatrist Journal of May 2011, Dr. Petry published an article entitled, Contingency Management: What it is and Why Psychiatrists Should Want to Use It, detailing the evidence-based research done on the behavioral treatment and the cross-sectional nature of its success, reducing usage in opioids, alcohol, marijuana and even cigarettes by patients.

Transference Of Learning: Contingency Management And Mental Health

The proven success of contingency management in substance use disorders may have some application in facilitating the treatment of some mental health issues within patients. Since the onset of the pandemic, 38% more Americans are participating in mental health care treatment of some kind, whether that be inpatient or outpatient services. But what mental health professionals have noticed is that youth mental health issues are increasing. In 2021, more than 4 in 10 high school students felt persistently sad or hopeless, with more than 1 in 5 students seriously considering attempting suicide.

Today's youth are more interconnected through various technological devices and platforms; as such, reaching and engaging with them has to be done through a medium that is ever-present in their lives. Web 3.0 represents a newfound avenue for mental health treatment to occur in a way that resonates with today’s youth while also being effective. By using Web 3.0 as a conduit for contingency management, individuals can receive counseling, encouragement and incentives around specific mental health issues. In essence, using technology to treat individuals empathetically while also incentivizing them to continue treatment as they navigate their mental health journey.

Leveraging Technology For Mental Health

Implementing blockchain technology to increase mental health services for those who need it instantly at both outpatient and inpatient levels is part of Elevate Health and Wellness' vision as a dual-licensed outpatient clinic specializing in mental health and addiction treatment for adolescents and adults.

Tentatively launching in 2024, the company says its token will be used to increase awareness, build a stronger supportive community and connect individuals with mental health disorders and addiction with therapists and psychiatrists instantly. Blockchain-based software will also allow for the creation of smart insurance contracts (i.e., contracts that are self-executing, in which the terms of the agreement are directly written into lines of code) for mental health and wellness to provide an alternative to conventional insurance.

Digital token rewards are already being leveraged by brands through Web 3.0 loyalty programs, and they have the potential to be powerful tools for promoting sustainable behaviors. With contingent management strategies suggesting that desirable behaviors should be reinforced quickly, digital tokens can help implement these strategies effectively through rewards that can be awarded quickly, tracked accurately and redeemed easily.

As such, embedding contingency management treatment attributes within Elevate’s token could help improve outcomes. Given the greater ownership individuals will have of their information in a Web 3.0 world, therapists and psychiatrists can design treatment plans to specifically reward their patients throughout their treatment plan.

The Web 3.0 Future Of Mental Health With Contingent Management

Web 3.0 holds the potential to transform healthcare by creating a more patient-centric and personalized treatment plan for individuals. With behavioral treatments like contingency management available to individuals, the ability to form and embed positive habits can help improve patient outcomes. Elevate Health and Wellness is fully prepared to take advantage of this technological advancement for the betterment of its patients and those who need its services the most.

Featured photo by Valeriia Miller on Unsplash.

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