Governing Digital Mental Health

This book presents a bold governance blueprint for an era in which mental health systems face a historic transition: as care delivery becomes increasingly shaped by code, platforms, and predictive algorithms, new governance frameworks are needed to protect equity, ethics, and human-centered leadership. At the core of this blueprint is the 5P Model – Predictive, Preventive, Personalized, Participatory, and Precision-based – a transformative framework for building equitable, effective behavioral health systems in the age of AI.

The book introduces the Digital Behavioral Health Expert (DBHE), a new professional role designed to bridge clinical care, policy systems, and digital infrastructure. Unlike traditional mental health models that focus on professional interaction alone, the DBHE enables coordination across platforms, stakeholders, and jurisdictions – turning governance into a strategic, ethical, and human-centered function.

Designed for stakeholders across the ecosystem – policymakers shaping regulation, managers implementing care systems, clinicians navigating hybrid models, developers building ethical tools, and investors backing scalable solutions – this book equips each with strategic insight for a digitally governed future of mental health.

"A timely vision for ethical, inclusive governance in digital mental health."
— Professor Anil Thapliyal, Executive Director, eMental Health International Collaborative (eMHIC)