Digital Mental Health for Asian Americans
Purpose
Aim 1: Assess clinicians' receptiveness and potential use of Anise's online platform digital tools for managing sociocultural stressors and revise the tools for implementation. We will recruit 8 new clinicians (intervention group) who will receive training and provide feedback on the digital tools. Aim 2: Evaluate the initial efficacy of the online platform digital tools for managing the impact of sociocultural stressors with 64 Asian American clients. The intervention group clinicians (receiving training and using the digital tools) and newly recruited 8 clinicians (not receiving training and not using the digital tools) for the control group will work with 4 clients each. The clinical outcome data of the clients will be analyzed to examine differences in the client prognosis between the control and intervention group. A successful outcome of this project will be digital materials that effectively address the impact of sociocultural stressors for Asian Americans on Anise Health's digital health platform.
Conditions
- Mental Health
- Cultural Adaptation
- Psychotherapy
- Mood Disorders
- Culturally Responsive Care
- Asian
- Digital Health Intervention
Eligibility
- Eligible Ages
- Between 18 Years and 90 Years
- Eligible Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- New clinicians who have never provided services on the Anise Health platform
Exclusion Criteria
- Existing clinicians on the Anise Health platform Client eligibility Inclusion Criteria: 1. Asian American adults (age 18-90 years) who seek mental health services 2. resides in states in which Anise Health clinicians are licensed to provide care, 3. has access to reliable internet connection, 4. has signed the Informed Consent form prior to participants' entry into the study. Exclusion Criteria: Individuals seeking 1. treatment for serious mental illness such as bipolar disorder and psychotic disorders, 2. diagnosis for ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorder, 3. treatment for eating disorder and substance use disorder, 4. attention for active suicidal ideation with plan and intent, or 5. persons lacking relevant decision-making capacity, or otherwise requiring a personal representative to indicate consent/authorization on their behalf, would be ineligible.
Study Design
- Phase
- N/A
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Non-Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel Assignment
- Intervention Model Description
- We will test whether there are significant differences in clients' outcomes related to presenting concerns between the intervention group (the 8 clinicians who were recruited and trained to use the digital tools) and the control group (another 8 clinicians recruited to work with clients without training and use of the digital tools). Both groups (control and intervention) will work with their clients as they normally would, with the difference being that the intervention group will be using the digital tools.
- Primary Purpose
- Treatment
- Masking
- Single (Participant)
Arm Groups
| Arm | Description | Assigned Intervention |
|---|---|---|
|
No Intervention Control group |
Eight clinicians new to the Anise Health digital mental health platform will be recruited to provide 12 weeks of mental health services to 4 clients each. The clinicians will provide clinical data that will be analyzed in comparison to the intervention group. |
|
|
Experimental Intervention group |
Eight clinicians new to the Anise Health digital mental health platform will be recruited to receive training to use digital tools developed to enhance their work on racial trauma, bicultural tension, and intergenerational conflict. They will then use these tools while providing 12 weeks of mental health services to 4 clients each. The clinicians will provide clinical data that will be analyzed in comparison to the intervention group. |
|
Recruiting Locations
Brooklyn, New York 11216
More Details
- Status
- Recruiting
- Sponsor
- University of California, Berkeley
Detailed Description
Unique sociocultural factors significantly impact the lived experiences and mental health of Asian Americans. Yet, these factors are often not considered or are overlooked in conventional evidence-based practices for psychotherapy. Ample research has found that these culture-specific stressors can give rise to psychopathology (e.g., depression, anxiety, trauma, problematic substance use) among Asian Americans. The current diagnosis-driven, Eurocentric models of psychotherapy often do not account for these sociocultural determinants of mental well-being and can lack cultural sensitivity, leading to unsuccessful psychotherapy outcomes and a high burden from persistent mental health issues among this population. To address this gap, Anise Health (Anise) has been pioneering the technology-enabled delivery of mental health care for Asian Americans. Anise develops clinical protocols that incorporate culture and intersectionality into evidence-based practices and technologies that enable the delivery of personalized treatments. Anise's online platform also includes tailored digital tools for clients and clinicians to leverage in treatment. To improve access to high-quality mental health care services for Asian Americans, we will leverage our expertise and preliminary data to expand our online digital library of materials and tools. Specifically, the overall objective of this proposal is to develop and refine Anise Health's digital tools and accompanying clinician training programs for addressing key sociocultural factors in mental health treatments and to determine the feasibility and acceptability of these online platform tools. Our preliminary data elucidated common themes related to the negative impact of sociocultural stressors on clients' mental health outcomes, and the need for clinicians to address these issues in culturally-informed ways. Digital mental health clinical tools have been found to support treatment and homework adherence as they are easily accessible for clients and are easier for therapists to integrate into their treatment plans. However, existing digital mental health clinical tools were not developed for, nor tested with, the Asian American community and do not integrate their specific historical and sociocultural experiences. This project is a foundational step toward our long-term goal of demonstrating that Anise's online platform is effective in addressing unique sociocultural factors for Asian Americans.