[video]

Abstract

April C. Foreman, Ph.D., will discuss how natural language processing can be applied in different ways to the architecture of the mental health system. She will cover potential applications for symptom tracking, diagnosis, treatment, and outcome evaluation. She will look at new ethics and procedural issues that must be considered in research, development, and launch of new methodologies. She will discuss applications for individuals, systems, and general public health policy. She will discuss application limitations, and build developer insight into the opportunities for NLP in the mental health system.

Bio

Dr. April C. Foreman (or @DocForeman to her healthcare social media crew), is a Licensed Psychologist serving Veterans in Louisiana as a Suicide Prevention Coordinator for the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System (Veterans Affairs, VISN 16). Prior to that she worked as the only Licensed Psychologist providing care in the four of the sickest and poorest counties of rural Kansas. Dr. Foreman received her Ph.D. from Texas Tech University in 2005.

DocForeman’s mission in life is to relieve pain, one person, one problem, one minute at a time if she has to. She is known for her practical experience using innovations in emerging technology to solve problems for patients with severe emotional pain. You can read about one of her projects here: http://www.jopm.org/columns/innovations/2011/09/26/just-text-me-using-sms-technology-for-collaborative-patient-mood-charting/. This project was recognized in the US Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Innovation Exchange. DocForeman is experienced at adapting emerging technology to enhance therapeutic outcomes in scalable, practical ways. She is passionate about serving and advocating for people with Borderline Personality Disorder.

You can find DocForeman on Facebook (April Foreman), and on Twitter, where she moderates a weekly Twitter Chat on Suicide Prevention and Social Media (#SPSM). SPSM chat is a project designed to build and spread expertise in the intersection of social media and suicide prevention. A weekly guest expert or targeted discussion topic is featured each week, and targeted at a diverse and multidisciplinary group of stake holders in this field. Each week’s chat is curated, creating a centralized and searchable body of expertise and thought leadership. You can find it here: http://storify.com/SPSMChat