When demand for mental health services outpace the systems that are developed to offer care, where do people go for help? One in 5 adults in the U.S. experience mental illness each year, and 1 in 6 children between the ages of 6-17 face mental health challenges. Yet finding effective care is quite a challenge.
The World Health Organization (WHO) shows that the shortage of mental health workers currently stands at 4.3 million globally. It’s projected to reach 10 million by 2030 in low- and middle-income countries.
However, in the face of these challenges, artificial intelligence (AI) is proving its power to revolutionize mental health care. With all of its tools and technologies, it can help support your independent pharmacy by providing effective and personalized care for patients.
Today’s youth are especially excited about AI. In fact, they’re already using mental health apps; and statistics show that many patients are more sincere with chatbots than with human therapists. This is because AI-powered apps are designed with real therapists in mind. They can offer therapy sessions that are very similar to those with professional psychologists and can offer 24/7 support.
Virtual therapists, on the other hand, use advanced conversational AI to engage users in therapeutic dialogue based on evidence-based practices like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). They can answer common medication-related questions, offer reminders, and talk with patients about their health conditions and their medications.
AI can also monitor patient health metrics, such as blood pressure or glucose levels and provide real-time feedback and advice based on the collected data. It can also deliver personalized educational materials and resources to patients. This can help them better understand their health conditions and treatments needed. Most importantly, AI can analyze large datasets and identify trends while predicting potential health issues. This allows pharmacists to intervene early and provide preventive care.
If you’re still unsure whether to use AI-powered patient counseling in your independent pharmacy, here are a few more reasons why you should consider it:
- It’s efficient. AI can free up your time so you can focus on more complex and personalized patient care. It can handle many routine tasks, such as data entry, inventory management, and answering basic customer questions, so you can focus on direct patient care.
- It offers personalized care. By analyzing patient data, AI can provide personalized advice based on a patient’s unique health profile. Patient data can identify trends, potential health risks, and areas for improvement. This allows pharmacists to make better decisions and provide proactive care.
- It keeps patients safe. AI can help identify potential drug interactions and side effects, which guarantees safer medication management.
- It’s convenient. With chatbots, patients are provided with information and support outside of the traditional pharmacy hours. This enhances patients’ engagement.
- It teaches patients. With AI, patients will be educated on their medications. Reminders can be sent, and patients’ medication adherence can be tracked. This can help ensure that patients are taking their medications as prescribed. This will help them better understand why adherence is important.
- It can save you money. AI can help reduce operational costs by automating routine tasks and improving This allows your pharmacy to allocate resources more effectively.
Furthermore, chatbots and AI therapists have an advantage over human psychologists when it comes to lower cost, availability at any moment, and having absolutely no prejudices and/or stigmas. For instance, did you know that AI-based counseling can be lower than the price of human-based counseling? The cost of a single human-led session online is around $65 to $95. But with a chatbot, you could buy a one-year subscription to some with unlimited usage. There are also apps out there that offer free versions, which is a great way to introduce the benefits of therapy to those who’ve never experienced it.
The American Psychological Association acknowledges that therapists may struggle understanding patients from diverse backgrounds. This can prevent a significant portion of the population from receiving treatment for mental health. AI therapists, however, can help bridge the gap. With chatbots seen as nonjudgmental and unbiased, it’s much easier for them to provide quality care to a wide range of people.
The stigma around mental health care is one of the main reasons people don’t get help. Not everyone is comfortable discussing their private issues with others. But with AI-based therapy, it’s more anonymous and private. With most services, you don’t need to reveal your identity. Instead, it’s in the form of a chat, and it helps a lot of people feel more comfortable with AI mental health care than a human therapist. Do note that AI therapists or chatbots may not be HIPAA-compliant.
Another reason people may avoid therapy is because of long waiting lists and business hours that are inconvenient. AI therapists, however, are available without appointments so people can get immediate help.
When mental health therapy expanded from in-person to telehealth platforms, it changed for the better by helping make psychotherapy more affordable. In fact, the price for online sessions is half the price than the in-person sessions. Plus, online therapy is accessible to those from most parts of the U.S.
So, can AI therapists replace real therapists? For now, artificially intelligent therapists are unlikely to replace human therapists anytime soon, if at all. However, the AI therapist tools and software can definitely be valuable for providing support and care to clients. AI’s role in therapy is to complement the relationship with human professionals by providing additional support and resources.
AI-Powered Patient Counseling Tools
- Woebot: An AI-powered chatbot that provides evidence-based techniques for managing mental health issues.
- Wysa: An AI-powered chatbot that provides virtual psychotherapeutic services.
- Tess: An AI-powered chatbot that provides virtual psychotherapeutic services.
- Serena: An AI-powered therapist that uses evidence-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques.
- Clinical Notes AI: An AI-powered clinical documentation solution that creates formatted notes from a therapy session.
How AI is Used in Mental Health Care
Digital technology and AI are transforming the field of mental health in multiple areas, including:
Prediction and detection
Machine learning (a subset of AI focused on learning and decision-making systems), is increasingly used for prediction, detection, and treatment in mental health care.
Digital intervention
Web and smartphone-based digital interventions (apps) enhance and personalize mental healthcare user experiences.
Digital phenotyping
Using sensor data from smartphones and other digital devices offers behavioral and mental health insights and supports the prediction of mental health conditions.
Natural language processing
Analyzing clinical texts and social-media content provides a means to spot mental health states and supports the development of conversational agents for therapeutic intervention.
Chatbots and virtual agents
These offer accessible therapy options for various mental health conditions, with approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and other therapeutic techniques.
Ecological momentary interventions
Mobile devices can support real-time psychological interventions and behavioral prompts. They frequently use user feedback and behavior to inform their highly personalized therapy recommendations.
Precision medicine in mental health
Treatment issues like delayed, inaccurate, and inefficient care delivery can be alleviated with precise diagnoses, prognoses, and therapeutic choices.
(Source: positivepsychology.com)
More articles from the March 2025 issue:
- Diagnosing Childhood Asthma
- New Weight-Loss Drugs
- Secondary Stress
- Sight-Loss Support
- PBMs and How They Affect Your Pharmacy
- White Label vs. Private Label Products
- Welcoming AI into Your Pharmacy
- AI-Powered Patient Counseling
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