MEMOTEXT Goes to the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA) Annual meeting in Vancouver, BC.

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Bill Simpson   As the Director of Scientific Development for MEMOTEXT I am honoured to have been invited to speak at this year’s Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA) annual conference. The 2015 conference runs from Annual Conference October 1^st – 3^rd in Vancouver, British Columbia. I will be speaking at the “A clinician’s guide to mental health apps.” symposium on Thursday, October 1^st at 10:15 PST. The focus of my contribution will be on mHealth and its capacity to affect positive behavioural change.   Mobile communications platforms offer a unique opportunity to affect behaviour change in a wide range of clinical populations.  There is already established scientific validity for these interventions in patients with HIV, diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.  Now, mental health practitioners are starting to investigate the potential use of mobile interventions in treating mental issues ranging from depression to anxiety and addiction.  This is great news for patients, as more than two decades of academic research show that symptoms of depression are the strongest predictor of medication adherence and positive health outcomes.   As mobile health (mHealth) continues to move ahead at lightning speed, clinicians and researchers alike are becoming more and more interested in the use of mHealth apps in clinical settings. With all the potential for mobile interventions to improve outcomes in psychiatric patients, I am honoured to be invited by Dr. Michael Van Ameringen of McMaster University to speak at his symposium. I will also be live tweeting the symposium, so follow me at @memotext_bill for updates !   BILL SIMPSON B.SC., Ph.D Candidate DIR. SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT Bill has an extensive background in psychology, mental health and clinical data analytics. He graduated with a B.Sc in Psychology from McMaster University in 2007 and is currently in the final stages of completing his Ph.D in Neuroscience. He has managed data collection and analysis for industry sponsored clinical trials and large international cohort studies. He has 12 scientific publications covering topics ranging from the psychometric properties of rating scales to the pharmacological treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder. At MEMOTEXT, Bill develops new data analytic strategies and is responsible for integrating new scientific advances into the MEMOTEXT system.