Treating Comorbid Depression During Care Transitions Using Relational Agents

Summary

Depression is common among individuals with chronic illness such as chronic heart failure (CHF) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is a strong predictor of poor clinical outcomes and high rates of avoidable 30-day readmissions. While depression is a treatable condition, few people with depression receive effective treatment. The proposed study aims to develop a relational agent system to deliver depression treatment to patients with chronic illness and comorbid depression. While depression is a treatable condition, less than 36% of people with depression receive effective treatment. The proposed study aims to design and develop a technology-driven relational agent system to deliver a 6 module, blended approach of cognitive behavioral therapy and self-management education (RA-CBT) to support patients with CHF or COPD and comorbid depression. The relational agent is a human animation program that interacts with patients, integrates best practices from provider-patient communication theory, emulating the face-to-face conversational behavior of an empathic provider emphasizing nonverbal communicative behavior such as gaze, posture, gestures, etc. The RA-CBT program will be accessed via tablet technology by participants. The study investigators will conduct a pre-post feasibility study to understand the feasibility and acceptability of using the RA-CBT system and its effectiveness in treating comorbid depression. If successful, this new approach to depression treatment would immediately expand access and scalability for post-discharge mental health support in the care transition.

Conditions

• Chronic Illness
• Chronic Pain
• Depression
• Comorbid Depression

Interventions

OTHER

Pre-Post Feasibility

The feasibility testing phase will include 25 subjects. Total duration of pre-post feasibility testing will be 6 weeks upon retrieval of the RA-CBT tablet and follow up questionnaires, quantitative exit interview, and/or an optional extended qualitative exit interview. The extended exit interview is a qualitative semi-formal interview focusing on gathering participant experiences working with the intervention, the barriers and facilitators encountered, as well as overall feedback for the pre-post feasibility study and the relational agent.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Northeastern University

  collaborator OTHER

• Boston Medical Center

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Suzanne E. Mitchell, M.D., M.S. · Boston Medical Center

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2014-08-31

Primary Completion

2017-05-21

Completion

2017-05-21

Countries

• United States

Study Locations