Digital Mind Body Intervention Among Black and Hispanic Patients Living With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Summary

The bidirectional effects between psychological distress and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) activity mean that not only does increased IBD activity trigger psychological distress, but psychological distress triggers increased IBD activity (i.e., gut-brain interaction). Comorbid psychological distress is linked to increased health resource utilization and poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This has prompted calls for integrating psychological care into IBD practice with restoration of quality of life as a clinical target of IBD management alongside endoscopic healing. The IBD Social Cognitive Model (IBD SCM) posits that patient psycho-behavioral modifiers contribute to IBD outcomes and not disease modifiers alone. While a co-localized gastro-psychologist in an IBD medical home is an emerging mode of delivering psycho-behavioral care among people living with IBD, access and scalability of this form of support is not yet widespread, particularly in resource-limited settings. Though many people with IBD have significant psychological distress, mental health care is underutilized with cost cited as a barrier.

The emergence of digital interventions in clinical practice presents an opportunity to address access, scalability, and cost barriers. However, current testing of digital interventions to address gut-brain interactions (digital mind-body intervention, DMBI) among people with IBD involves mostly women with high educational attainment who have full time employment and do not receive social service benefits. Individuals with limited resources and those from racial and ethnic minority groups (e.g. Black, Hispanic) often have socioecological factors, such as healthcare access and mental health stigma, that impede their use of psycho-behavioral resources. DMBI development informed by participatory research approaches are, therefore, critical to facilitate equitable engagement and utilization. Beneficial effects of psycho-behavioral treatment among people with IBD are strongest for those who have psychological distress and for acceptance, mindfulness, and values-based approaches.

Although high quality evidence demonstrates psychological improvement with DMBI in IBD, feasibility and acceptability of applying DMBI to IBD patients from racial and ethnic minority groups is lacking.

Conditions

• Crohn's Disease
• Ulcerative Colitis
• Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Digital Mind Body Intervention mobile application

A DMBI mobile application with psychoeducation and skill-building in illness perception, coping, mindfulness, and disease acceptance informed by needs/barriers of Black and Hispanic patients with IBD who have elevated psychological distress and GI professionals caring for IBD patients.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)

  collaborator NIH

• Montefiore Medical Center

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Ruby Greywoode, MD · Montefiore Medical Center

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-07-31

Primary Completion

2028-09-30

Completion

2028-09-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations