Testing the Feasibility, Acceptability, and Potential Efficacy of an Innovative Digital Mental Health Care Delivery Model Designed to Increase Access to Care: Open Trial of the Digital Clinic

作者：Natalia Macrynikola, Kelly Chen, Erlend Lane, Nic Nguyen, Joana Pinto, Shirley Yen, John Torous · 发表于：JMIR Mental Health · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.2196/65222 · 被引用次数：13 · 研究领域：Digital Mental Health Interventions、Mobile Health and mHealth Applications、Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation

Background Mental health concerns have become increasingly prevalent; however, care remains inaccessible to many. While digital mental health interventions offer a promising solution, self-help and even coached apps have not fully addressed the challenge. There is now a growing interest in hybrid, or blended, care approaches that use apps as tools to augment, rather than to entirely guide, care. The Digital Clinic is one such model, designed to increase access to high-quality mental health services. Objective To assess the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of the Digital Clinic model, this study aims to conduct a nonrandomized open trial with participants experiencing depression, anxiety, or both, at various levels of clinical severity. Methods Clinicians were trained in conducting brief transdiagnostic evidence-based treatment augmented by a mental health app (mindLAMP); digital navigators were trained in supporting participants’ app engagement and digital literacy while also sharing app data with both patients and clinicians. Feasibility and acceptability of this 8-week program were assessed against a range of benchmarks. Potential efficacy was assessed by calculating pre-post change in symptoms of depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9; PHQ-9), anxiety (7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder; GAD-7), and comorbid depression and anxiety (Patient Health Questionnaire Anxiety and Depression Scale; PHQ-ADS), as well as rates of clinically meaningful improveme...