Translating Evidence-Based Interventions Into Population-Level Digital Models of Care for Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Australian National Health and Medical Research (NHMRC), Medical Research Future Fund, Million Minds Grant

7/6/19 – 6/30/24

Sonja March, PhD (University of Southern Queensland), Caroline Donovan, PhD (Griffith University)

Klein B, Kavanagh D, Calear A, Cobham A, Hides L, Spence S, Farrell L, Kularatna S

This research aims to establish a digital, population-level model of care that makes evidence-based interventions for mental health accessible to all Australian children and adolescents. The project focuses on the most prevalent mental health difficulties in young people, anxiety and depression, along with substance use, unhealthy lifestyle behaviours and suicide, which are commonly comorbid in this population to deliver a platform that integrates detection, assessment and tailored interventions addressing depression, substance use, sleep problems, suicide, social relationships and healthy lifestyles. Three streams of research will translate and evaluate this comprehensive digital model of care by 1) validating an online system of detection, assessment, decision-making, treatment recommendation and feedback, 2) evaluating the efficacy of an innovative intervention platform that delivers multi-symptom, profile-based tailored intervention, steps up intensity over time and thus optimises the potential benefits to be gained through the digital intervention, and 3) evaluates implementation feasibility

This project will determine the optimal way to deliver a digital and population-level model of care and has the potential to reach many more thousands of young Australians.