Families navigating serious mental illness often lack awareness of emerging technologies that could transform care. A new book, Connected Care: A Practical Guide to Technology for Serious Mental Illness by Nicole Drapeau Gillen, aims to change that by organizing the rapidly expanding world of mental health technology into a practical, accessible guide written specifically for caregivers and families.
Gillen, whose daughter has serious mental illness, wrote the book after her first title, Schizophrenia & Related Disorders: A Handbook for Caregivers, became an Amazon bestseller. The new book fills a gap she identified: not the diagnosis itself, but the technology available after it. The book covers 42+ vetted digital tools, 60 pharmaceutical portals across 16 companies, 6 types of financial assistance programs, 10 AI use cases in psychiatric care, and 19 practical checklists.
Dr. Akira Sawa, Director of Johns Hopkins Schizophrenia Center, endorsed the book, stating, "Connected Care successfully fills the potential gap between them with language that families can actually act on, without sacrificing accuracy." The book addresses a community starved for resources, with serious mental illness affecting an estimated 14 million Americans and their families numbering tens of millions more.
Key areas the book addresses include pharmaceutical patient assistance programs and co-pay portals that can reduce or eliminate medication costs, passive sensing apps and wearable devices that detect behavioral shifts preceding relapse, AI tools used in psychiatric care, FDA-cleared prescription digital therapeutics, telehealth platforms, and legal rights technology such as psychiatric advance directives and insurance denial appeals tools. It also covers how to fight insurance denials, which occur at rates 85% higher for mental health claims than comparable medical claims.
Gillen emphasizes that the mental health system was not built for families, but technology has created a parallel system families can use to get better care, save money, and prevent crises. The book also addresses health equity, covering AI algorithmic bias, multilingual telehealth platforms, culturally competent care resources, and financial programs for underserved populations, including Latino, Black, and rural families.
Maria Case, founder of Kompashion and NAMI National Speaker, whose mother had schizophrenia, said, "My family spent ten years searching for answers... I wish Connected Care had existed then." The book is available on Amazon, and more information can be found at ResourcesForSMI.com.
