REMAP-Digital is a research cluster based at the University of British Columbia (UBC), funded by UBC’s Catalysing Grants for Research Clusters program. The REMAP-Digital Cluster is led by researchers from the Department of Psychiatry with members representing several UBC faculties and other Canadian and international universities.

Our Vision and Impact Statement

The REMAP-Digital research cluster will take an interdisciplinary, intersectoral and inclusive approach to research and translatable action on mental health equity in the Asia Pacific, focusing on digital health technologies. We will address complex challenges from multiple perspectives and maximize innovation, creativity and impact. This approach includes meaningful collaboration with stakeholders from across the Asia Pacific region, including researchers with expertise in multiple disciplines, policy makers, people with lived experience of mental illness representing diverse populations, service providers, and representatives of the private sector, especially the technology sector.

Building on our existing collaborations, we will liaise with other relevant networks (e.g. the APEC Digital Hub for Mental Health, the International Brain Initiative, the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, etc.) to maximize collaborative efforts, ensure alignment with existing initiatives and priorities, and to identify gaps, opportunities and potential for impact.

We acknowledge the diversity of the Asia Pacific and the wealth of knowledge and expertise that exists in the region. We will therefore emphasize cross-regional learning and knowledge exchange, while identifying existing efforts to employ and scale up digital technologies to support mental health prevention, promotion and care, and ongoing public mental health approaches that advance equity.

Our work, which is embedded in the principles of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI), must be value-driven. We recognize the harmful effects of colonialism and the need to decolonize mental health throughout the Asia Pacific region. We also recognize that efforts to improve mental health equity, including via the use of digital technologies, must take a strengths-based approach that values cultural diversity of knowledge. We will thus endeavor to practice cultural humility, open-mindedness and inquisitiveness, and to integrate Indigenous and cultural knowledge and understandings of mental health and wellbeing, in all of our work.

Recognizing that mental health remains a low priority in many contexts and that access to evidence-based mental health care is a significant gap, our work will include advocacy to address the root causes of mental health inequities within and between countries of the Asia Pacific. This includes engaging in efforts to understand and address the social and structural determinants of mental health, to minimise the harmful effects of stigma and discrimination, to promote awareness about mental health and mental illness, and to promote accessible and appropriate care for the most underserved populations. Our engagement will promote and advance policies that are inclusive of the most vulnerable and marginalized populations.

Finally, we endeavor in the first two years of our work to establish a sustainable research cluster as a centre of excellence representing the diverse perspectives of the Asia Pacific and harnessing the potential of digital technologies to identify practical and actionable approaches to promote mental health justice, equity, diversity and inclusion throughout the region.

REMAP-Digital is co-led by Dr. Raymond Lam, Dr. Jill Murphy and Dr. Erin Michalak

For more information contact Dr. Jill Murphy at: jill.murphy@ubc.ca