Bridging Translational Gaps in Psychological Care - A Care Platform Approach

Abstract

Psychological care systems face increasing demand while struggling to scale access, quality, and impact. Despite strong clinical evidence for the effectiveness of psychotherapy, many organizations encounter structural frictions that prevent available expertise, human resources, and digital solutions from translating into scalable patient value. This paper examines these challenges through the case of Neue Realitäten AG (NRAG), a Swiss provider of psychological diagnostics, psychotherapy, expert opinions for courts or child protection authorities, and clinical supervision.Adopting a design-oriented and translational research approach, the study applies the Translational Service Research and Design Methodology (TSRDM) to identify four interrelated translational gaps in psychological care: talent-to-value, knowledge-to-role, human-to-scalability, and solutions-to-value. These gaps are understood as organizational and architectural deficiencies rather than clinical shortcomings.To address these frictions, the paper develops a platform-based psychological care architecture grounded in Service Dominant Architecture (SDA). Psychological care is modeled as an end-to-end service system organized around five organizational capabilities: interaction, participation, operant resources, data, and institutions. A structured care pathway integrates clinical care, supervision, billing, office management, and outcome measurement as constitutive services.The findings illustrate how combining SDA with extreme ownership and architectural simplicity enables clearer accountability, scalable supervision capacity, and improved observation of value-in-use in real care situations. The paper offers a transferable design approach for scalable, accountable, and patient-centered psychological care.

Keywords: Psychological Care, Service-dominant Architecture, Care Pathways, Extreme Ownership, Simplicity

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007706