Previously submitted to: JMIR Formative Research (no longer under consideration since Jun 20, 2024)
Date Submitted: May 15, 2023
Open Peer Review Period: May 15, 2023 - May 30, 2023
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Virtual behavioral-health counseling program assisted by a digital bot: A review of outcomes
ABSTRACT
Background:
Healthcare and educational workforces are under a great deal of stress, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic. Synchronous Health offers tele-mental health services plus interventions via an integrated Digital Mental Health Platform bot named Karla® that connects with participants between sessions.
Objective:
In analyzing outcome variables for this retrospective study, we ascertained whether participants improved from their baseline assessments in resilience, anxiety, and depression.
Methods:
Outcome variables for this retrospective study are resilience, anxiety, and depression. Clinicians administered these assessments at baseline and at approximately every 4 sessions to participants who are primarily employees of a large health system and a large public school system, offered as part of their employee benefit programs. Eleven other healthcare organizations also contributed a few participants. A total of 833 participants completed 2 sets of assessments and 394 of these people completed a third set as well.
Results:
Based on changes in categories of outcomes and on a Repeated Measures ANOVA (p<.05) for each measure, participants improved on all outcomes from assessment 1 to assessment 2 with a significant linear trend across all 3 assessments even though change tapered off from assessment 2 to 3.
Conclusions:
This study demonstrates the ability of clinicians to combine tele-mental health with an integrated Digital Mental Health Platform [Karla]bot between sessions to improve resilience, anxiety, and depression for people from 2 different types of workforces, healthcare and education. Clinical Trial: N/A
Citation
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