EFFECTIVENESS, ACCESSIBILITY, AND LIMITATIONS OF DIGITAL MENTAL HEALTH INTERVENTIONS IN THE POST-COVID-19 ERA: A SCOPING REVIEW OF REVIEW-LEVEL EVIDENCE

Filip Sarek; Karol Józwik; Stanisław Kucharczyk; Zuzanna Rak; Zuzanna Ignatowska; Alicja Maria Wielogórska; Aleksander Kamecki; Karolina Dzień

doi:10.31435/ijitss.2(50).2026.5606

Authors

Filip Sarek Medical University of Lodz, Medical Faculty, al. Tadeusza Kosciuszki 4, 90-419 Lodz, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0947-8808
Karol Józwik Medical University of Lodz, Medical Faculty, al. Tadeusza Kosciuszki 4, 90-419 Lodz, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5585-396X
Stanisław Kucharczyk Medical University of Lodz, Medical Faculty, al. Tadeusza Kosciuszki 4, 90-419 Lodz, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7260-6765
Zuzanna Rak Medical University of Lodz, Medical Faculty, al. Tadeusza Kosciuszki 4, 90-419 Lodz, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0528-3569
Zuzanna Ignatowska Medical University of Lodz, Medical Faculty, al. Tadeusza Kosciuszki 4, 90-419 Lodz, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1957-746X
Alicja Maria Wielogórska Medical University of Lodz, Medical Faculty, al. Tadeusza Kosciuszki 4, 90-419 Lodz, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1478-9153
Aleksander Kamecki Medical University of Lodz, Medical Faculty, al. Tadeusza Kosciuszki 4, 90-419 Lodz, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5712-9468
Karolina Dzień Jan Kochanowski University, Medical Faculty, aleja IX Wieków Kielc 19a, 25-516 Kielce, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1061-0485

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31435/ijitss.2(50).2026.5606

Keywords:

Digital Mental Health; Telepsychiatry; Telemedicine; Mental Health Apps; Digital Divide; Post-COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the uptake of digital mental health interventions (DMHIs), including telepsychiatry, internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy, smartphone-based applications, and other digitally mediated forms of support. In the post-pandemic period, these interventions are increasingly discussed as durable components of mental health systems, although they should not be treated as a single intervention class. This scoping review of review-level evidence examines the effectiveness, accessibility, and limitations of DMHIs after COVID-19, with particular attention to clinical outcomes, acceptability, adherence, and equity. Reporting was informed by the PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR).

Current review-level evidence suggests that selected DMHIs may reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, particularly when interventions are structured, grounded in established psychotherapeutic models, and supported by coherent delivery pathways. Telepsychiatry appears to have a distinct and comparatively mature role in extending service reach and facilitating psychiatric assessment in routine and emergency settings. By contrast, evidence for self-guided apps, waiting-list interventions, and AI-enabled conversational agents remains more heterogeneous and should be interpreted more cautiously.

Across the literature, acceptability is often more favourable than sustained adherence, and accessibility gains may coexist with persistent inequalities related to socioeconomic position, disability, geography, digital literacy, privacy, and illness severity. Interpretation is further limited by heterogeneity of intervention types and outcome definitions, likely overlap among primary studies across reviews, the absence of a formal overlap analysis, and the lack of a formal item-by-item critical appraisal. Overall, DMHIs may be clinically useful under specific conditions, but their post-pandemic role is best understood as complementary and pathway-dependent.

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