Dates: 1 October 2017 - 31 March 2019
Funder: European Research Council
Project description
Insufficient awareness of available services and treatments and how to access them, and the stigma associated with using treatment, are two of the most significant barriers to mental health care for young people. As part of the ongoing APPLAUSE project, the project team have already collected data from a prospective community cohort of young people and found that among those with mental health problems, 40% wanted help but were not aware of how to get it. Thus, despite perceived need, many young people fail to find support.
The aim of this project is to develop a mobile app which facilitates access to mental health services and treatments for young people with mental health problems; and to assess its feasibility, acceptability and potential clinical and costeffectiveness. If successful, the app would: (1) increase access to mental health care by providing links to relevant existing services; (2) increase access to relevant evidence-based mobile health interventions and to address barriers to care and (3) allow individuals to review services they have used and provide feedback which can be accessed by other app users.
Methods
The ERC APPLAUSE project cohort provides a unique opportunity to understand how and whether the app can change service use patterns. The study team will randomise cohort participants with mental health problems to intervention and control conditions in order to understand changes in service use in addition to estimating short- and long-term economic impacts associated with the app intervention.
Further project information
Principal Investigator: Dr Sara Evans-Lacko
CPEC Research team: Madeleine Stevens, Annette Bauer
Countries: England, Brazil
Keywords: young people, mental health, mHealth, economics, access to care, health services
Contact
Sara Evans-Lacko
s.evans-lacko@lse.ac.uk