Latvia to fund digital therapy for teenagers from next year

Latvia plans to start covering digital psychological therapy for teenagers with public funds at the beginning of next year, LSM reported. The service, which was tested in a pilot project for a year and a half, will not resume in the autumn.

The therapist-guided therapy is delivered through a phone application and is intended for teenagers and young adults aged 12 to 25 experiencing depression or anxiety. Psychologists and art therapists took part in the project.

The pilot project was launched by the Adolescent Resource Centre using funding from the European Recovery Fund. Its main aim was to ensure that young people could receive help early, in a convenient format and regardless of where they lived in Latvia.

“Teenagers also said: I had nothing available. This was my only opportunity to receive help in Latvia because they lived in a place where the nearest specialist was simply inaccessible,” said Liene Dambiņa, chairwoman of the Adolescent Resource Centre’s board.

A total of 1,006 teenagers and young adults received the digital psychological therapy service during the 18-month pilot. The project ended in March, and the latest patients received consultations that month.

In early June, the National Health Service said the digital consultation service was planned to continue with public funding, but no date had been set. Evija Štālberga, a representative of the service, has now said that the National Health Service, the Ministry of Health and potential service providers are working to introduce it at the beginning of next year.

“The necessary preparations for its introduction are currently being carried out so that the service can be provided in the long term and in accordance with the requirements for publicly funded healthcare services,” Štālberga said.

Since the pilot ended, teenagers have had access only to the Adolescent Resource Centre’s existing service, which consists of in-person consultations.