At a glance
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Treating Comorbid Depression During Care Transitions Using Relational Agents
In Brief
A clinical study evaluating Pre-Post Feasibility for Chronic Illness and 3 related conditions. Completed, enrolled 4 participants across 1 site.
Detailed 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.
Study Details
Timeline
Interventions
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.