Targeted Condition: Depression

WITH (Whole person Integrated Texting for Health)

Text messaging holds promise as a strategy for engaging older adults in depression treatment. The purpose of this project will be to develop and pilot test a text messaging intervention delivered in primary care settings practicing integrated care. Recent data shows that the vast majority of older adults have a cell phone and that about half have sent an email or text within the past month. Among that latter group, about one third reported they did so “most days.” There is research showing that text messaging with older adults is feasible that is focused on mental health was well received and effective. None of the prior studies looked at text messaging as an adjunct to mental health treatment delivered in primary care. This project will address that gap.

Collaborative care for perinatal mental health – the LAMMHA project

Los Angeles Maternal Mental Health Access (LAMMHA) is a five year program (2022 – 2027) funded by The California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) to support health centers in Los Angeles to identify and treat common perinatal mental disorders (CPMD) and reduce the risk of suicide. The LAMMHA initiative is a collaboration between Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County (CCALAC), Elevation Health Partners (EHP), Maternal Mental Health Now (MMHN), Concert Health and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. Co-created with Los Angeles community stakeholders, the LAMMHA program currently offers Los Angeles County providers and community clinics two different levels of support to improve perinatal mental health care.

For more information and/or to apply for the program, please visit the CCALAC LAMMHA page: https://ccalac.org/los-angeles-maternal-mental-health-access-lammha/.

Pathways from Chronic Prescription Opioid Use to New Onset Mood Disorder

The proposed research addresses three important objectives including: 1) Can OUD screening be effectively incorporated into primary care mental health screening protocols?; 2) Does implementing Collaborative Care for OUD and mental health disorders improve outcomes?; 3) What implementation strategies are effective at sustaining Collaborative Care programs that concurrently manage mental health disorders and OUD?

Behavioral Health Support Specialist (BHSS)

Our goals for this project include (1) Design competency framework and learning objectives that define the role and scope of practice for a BHSS; (2) Scale the role for Washington state by creating processes for integrating the BHSS Clinical Training Program into existing four-year degree programs in the behavioral healthcare field; (3) Partner with Washington state higher education institutions to adopt the BHSS Clinical Training Program; (4) Develop curricular resources to share with Washington State colleges and universities including an Educator’s Guide; (5) Collaborate with government agencies, employers, and policy groups to implement legislation establishing a BHSS credential in Washington state.

For information, please contact:
Bill O’Connell, Ed.D.
Director, Clinical Training Program

Savannah Tidwell, BS
tidwell1@uw.edu
Program Manager, Clinical Training Program

The ATTEND study for Healthcare Workers and First Responders

Healthcare workers and first responders working during the COVID-19 pandemic have experienced increased exposure to suffering and loss; prolonged work hours; and increased personal risk. Although associated increases in psychiatric symptoms and occupational burnout are well documented, what aspects of the experiences are most strongly associated with negative outcomes over time – and what interventions are most likely to protect healthcare workers and first responders – are poorly understood.

The ATTEND study is designed to address the impact of occupational stress related to working during the COVID-19 pandemic on health care workers and first responders (police, fire, EMTs) through a national longitudinal survey paired with a local interventional clinical trial. The interventional clinical trial is designed to test the impact of treating sleep disruption with prazosin during or shortly after the period of exposure.

Leveraging peer mentor texting to support maternal wellbeing in the perinatal period

Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders affect one in seven pregnant and postpartum women nationwide, making them the most common complication of pregnancy. Unfortunately, only one in 20 women who need treatment for these conditions actually receives it. This translates to a multigenerational issue, which can negatively affect the mother and child’s long-term physical, emotional and developmental health. It also means an estimated $14.2 billion annually in societal costs in the U.S. alone. While not every perinatal individual with mental health concerns has access to a mental health provider, cell phones and text messaging are ubiquitous. Nonjudgmental support delivered through text messaging may be a low cost approach to reaching women who need emotional support in the perinatal period.

Our project aims to evaluate a text-based mentoring program, the Nurture Program, and assess whether it is possible to support mothers through their third trimester of pregnancy and nine months postpartum and enhance their emotional well-being. The Nurture Program combines the convenience of secure text messaging with the personalization of having a trained peer mentor with whom the mother can develop a trusting relationship. This program also provides resources on child development, connections to local support agencies and suggestions for parent-child bonding and parental wellness activities. Surveyed participants of the Nurture Program consistently report their mentor helped them feel less stressed and more confident in their role as a parent. This study will allow us to measure the impact of this cost-effective approach to promoting perinatal emotional well-being.

Mobile mental health in community-based organizations: a stepped care approach to women’s mental health

Of every 10 women in rural India, one suffers from a common mental disorder such as depression. For many, depression goes untreated and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality rates. Several factors, specifically for women in rural India, including stigma, lack of provider mental health workforce, and travel times. Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve detection and treatment rates among women without overburdening the scarce mental health resources in rural India. 

The “Mobile Mental Health in Community-Based Organizations: A Stepped Care Approach to Women’s Mental Health” study aims to develop and implement a mobile mental health intervention for women through community-based organizations. The intervention is delivered in a stepped-care approach where women receive different levels of intervention depending on the severity of their mental health needs. 

A dyadic approach to perinatal depression treatment in primary care

Perinatal depression affects 10-20% of pregnant and postpartum individuals, impairing parenting self-efficacy and mother-infant interactions and contributing to negative maternal-child outcomes. This research will test comprehensive perinatal depression treatment, Maternal Infant and Dyadic Care (MInD), which includes a brief version of the Promoting First Relationships parenting intervention implemented within perinatal collaborative care, against perinatal collaborative care (CC) only. The aims of this study are to (1) compare the effects of MInD vs. usual perinatal CC on depression, (2) explore associations between parenting self-efficacy, dyadic interaction, and depression to inform a mediational hypothesis, and (3) examine and compare care utilization, trial feasibility, and perceived match of treatment to patient need. 

Global Mental Health Databank (MindKind)

The goal of this study is to learn how best to design a databank – a pool of data – about emotional health experiences from youth from around the world. The University of Washington is partnering with Sage Bionetworks to develop a user-friendly data platform for mental health interventions for youth. The overall scope of this project is to recruit 1,500 youth in South Africa, India, and the UK (each) to engage in a mental health intervention and both share their data and help co-design a user-friendly database for lay people, researchers and other key stakeholders. The University of Washington will provide global mental health expertise to Sage’s team to guide design, implementation, and interpretation of data collected.