Australia's Telstra Foundation has announced a grant of $285,000 (Australian Dollars) over two years for an mHealth program run by the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute.  The program, which has already facilitated a successful pilot, uses mobile phones to track the mental health of young people suffering from depression. Telstra Foundation is an arm of Australia's biggest wireless carrier, Telstra, which has an impressive 3G network. The grant money will be used to determine whether the pilot should be rolled out nationwide.

The program aims to assist doctors treat 14 to 24-year-olds with mental health concerns by monitoring each young person's mood, stress levels, coping strategies, alcohol and marijuana use, exercise, eating patterns and general lifestyle factors.

The participants answered questions on a programmed mobile phone and their responses were sent to a website, which evaluated and assessed their mental well-being and sent a report to their doctor who then determined whether treatment was necessary. Doctors found the program helped them get better insights into the well-being of more than 90 percent of their patients, while 81 percent of the participants said they had a better understanding of their own mental health as a result of the program.

The next pilot will take place in Victoria and include a randomized control involving 200 participants. 

"Up to 30 per cent of young people will experience a form of depression by the end of their teenage years. About 50 per cent of common mental disorders begin during adolescence yet unfortunately most people wait six to 23 years to obtain appropriate treatment. Delays between the onset of depression and receiving appropriate treatment are associated with poor mental health outcomes in the long-term, which makes adolescence an important time for intervention," said MCRI Research Fellow Dr Sophie Reid.