Initial Evaluation of an eHealth Self-Management System to Reduce Depression and Increase Resilience After SCI
Abstract
The sudden, devastating nature of SCI and the potential for lifelong physical limitations and medical complications pose significant mental health challenges for affected individuals. High prevalence rates for depressive disorders and anxiety disorders have been found in both Veterans and civilians with SCI. Resilience, or the ability to “bounce back” from a highly stressful life event, is associated with decreased risk for psychological distress following SCI. Developing easily accessible interventions to reduce mental health symptoms and increasing psychological resilience after SCI is therefore critical to improving quality of life. Developing such interventions as remotely accessible web-based (“eHealth”) tools offers the added benefits of reducing costs and alleviating resource strain on military and civilian health care systems. It can be challenging to identify and address symptoms of emotional distress and promote resilience in individuals who are learning to function with a new disability, particularly because the typical duration of post-acute rehabilitation care has become extremely short. Once discharged, many individuals are essentially “on their own” coping with these challenges. Mental health needs can be overlooked in favor of attending to medical needs. Combining these factors with high cost and stigma can lead many individuals to not receive mental health treatment post-SCI. Furthermore, military-relevant physical and psychosocial issues can exacerbate symptoms for Veterans or military personnel. The goal of this project is to further build, refine, and fully prepare an existing eHealth intervention for large-scale clinical trial evaluation. This tool, called iManage-SCI, is a symptom-monitoring and self-management tool specifically designed to provide a low-cost and empirically founded method of reducing mental health symptoms and increasing resilience among individuals with SCI. The impact of this project is anticipated to be significant. This project has tremendous potential to provide vital education and skills to Veterans and civilians with SCI to improve their mental well-being and, ultimately, their quality of life. This work will directly address the critical need for economical, efficacious, and easily accessible interventions for Veterans and civilians to manage post-SCI psychological challenges. Reducing mental health symptomatology and building resilience would also reduce health care burden in both U.S. and Veterans Health Administration systems. We will be able to complete the aims of this project within 3 years, which will allow us to begin making a difference very quickly. This research will prepare iManage-SCI to undergo large-scale, randomized clinical trial testing and provide important information regarding the safety, usability, and preliminary efficacy of the system in reducing psychological symptoms and increasing resilience. While the system will likely not be available for immediate use following this research, iManage-SCI will be well on its way to entering the final stages of research before it is made available for widespread use in the SCI community. We are hopeful that this initiative will ultimately create noticeable improvement in the quality of life of those individuals living with SCI.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 10, 2021
- Source ID
- W81XWH2010786
Entities
People
- David S. Tulsky
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of Delaware