In “Evaluating the Evidence Base for New Mental Health Tech With APA Labs,” JMIR correspondent Simon Spichak speaks with Tanya Carlson, MBA, managing director of APA (American Psychological Association) Labs, on how their new initiative—the Digital Badge Program—is helping developers evaluate and improve their mental health applications.

Domestic and family violence (DFV) rates in the Indo-Pacific are among the highest globally, but there is a lack of focus, both in research and policy, on the issue across the region. 

In the first analysis of its kind centred on the Indo-Pacific, Griffith University researchers conducted a scoping review, mapping the intervention programs that existed for male perpetrators of DFV, examining what they looked like in practice, and where opportunities for learning and collaboration lay. 

Dr Freya McLachlan, Research Fellow at the Centre of Excellence for The Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW) who conducted the review with Professor Patrick O’Leary, Katy Desmond and Taliah Swart, said while practitioners in the Indo Pacific were trialling innovative intervention approaches to male perpetrated violence, too often programs were developed independently, piloted with limited resources and were unable to facilitate meaningful knowledge sharing. 

“If we want to effectively engage men who use domestic and family violence in Australia and across the Indo-Pacific, we must first examine how we engage the communities in which that violence occurs,” Dr McLachlan said.