Study on effects of treatment for depression using telehealth modalities

Telehealth Definition 5 1. Advantages and Limitations of Telehealth Modalities 5 1. Evidence on Telehealth Services Delivery vs Face-to-Face Participation 6 2. Purpose of the Study 7 3. Research Design 7 3. Participant characteristics 9 3. Procedures 9 3. a. Participant recruitment and screening 9 3. b. NIMH, 2018). • It is a serious impediment to the cognitive, physical, and social well-being of affected individuals (REF), puts their families at risk for a cascade of problems (REF), and represents a major economic cost to society (REF). • A robust body of evidence supports the effectiveness of treatments for depression such as individual cognitive behavioral therapy (REF) and support group therapy (REF) when delivered in typical face-to-face contexts. • However, considerable disparities exist in the access to mental health services and among sectors of the population such as those who live in rural areas where fewer care providers are based (REF).

• Remote delivery of therapeutic services (telehealth) for depression is a promising alternative for helping individuals that have difficulty accessing traditional face-to face treatment (REF). Telehealth is the provision of information and health-related services to patients using telephone, videoconferencing and video chat technologies (https://www. mayoclinic. org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/indepth/telehealth/art-20044878). During the telehealth sessions, the practitioner and patient can communicate with each other without being in the same place. The decision to use telehealth as a means of psychological remediation varies between the rural and urban dwellers. Due to barriers to attending groups, online groups are used for telehealth. Most online groups are text-based. Individual cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) interventions are also used to help clients recover from depression. CBT therapists educate clients about CBT and about their diagnosis.

CBT interventions focus on helping clients become engaged in activities they value but had given up because of depression (Beck, n. A between-groups comparison of post-test treatment effects is not appropriate because the two treatment modalities are not typically considered as interchangeable modes of best practices treatment for adult clinical depression (i. e. previous research supports their selective use depending on needs of individual patients, as well as patients’ resources to access different treatment modalities. Also, an investigation of specific circumstances where one treatment modality maybe be more (or less) effective than the other (e. g. Target Population The study will focus on adults diagnosed with clinical depression who reside in rural areas of (western?) Kentucky. Eligible participants will be between the ages of 20-45, have experienced depressive symptoms for more than two years, and demonstrate a score of >15 on the Beck Depression Inventory.

In addition, participants may not be receiving treatment from serious or chronic physical illness (e. g. cancer? Heart disease?, high cholesterol?, broken limb?, cold/flu?--need boundaries or you’ll have to exclude everyone), and demonstrate basic English language literacy skills (e. and high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0. The BDI is a test consisting of 21 questions scored in the 4-point Likert scale, with the range 0 to 3 and total score with the range 0 to 63. The higher the total scores the more severe the depressive symptoms. Depression is categorized into four, score 0 to 9 (minimal depression), score 10 to 18 (mild depression), score 19 to 29 (moderate depression), and score 30 to 63 (severe depression). b. Eligible candidates will then be invited for a second assessment in a clinic at Kentucky.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria will be applied and participants selected. Quantitative data for participants will be taken eg age, weight, number of years since depression was detected and BDI score. b. Treatment conditions. Next, a review of the BDI-II is done with suicidal behaviors given priority. Any homework the participants had been given in previous session will be discussed. The agenda of the meeting will be thoroughly covered. Towards the end of a session, the practitioner will review covered topics and give homework if any. The practitioner will be ensuring that the homework is understood by participants and will be completed. Data collection and management. Participants’ data will be collected through questionnaires. Participants will be given a list of questions which they will dully fill in then hand in the questionnaires.

The data will then be compiled in universal data collection sheet analysis. BDI scores will be obtained from list of questions. EDA is a statistical method that employs many graphical techniques to:  give maximum insight for a data set;  extract significant variables,  reveal underlying structures,  test underlying assumptions,  detect anomalies and outliers,  come up with optimized factor settings,  develop parsimonious models. Data will be, individual CBT and peer support group. Analysis will be done on participants who took part in (a) individual CBT telehealth chat-based sessions and those who took part in (b) peer support group telehealth chat-based sessions. The average BDI score before intervention and after intervention will be taken to assess reduction or increase in depression. If the p- value is lower than 0.

In compliance with section D (relationships with colleagues, employees and employers), counselors will develop god relationships with colleagues, provide consultation services only where they are competent and provide consultation referrals where necessary or requested. In compliance with section E (evaluation, assessment and interpretation), counselors will understand use of assessments in information gathering, use assessments they are trained on and can administer and interpret, and diagnose clients and accurately and sensitively interpret assessments. In compliance with section F (supervision, training and teaching), counselors will ensure they are trained in supervision methods and techniques before offering supervisory services They will take the responsibility of monitoring performance and development of supervisees and their clients’ welfare, inform supervisees on clients’ rights, inform clients on supervision process and confidentiality limitation, be aware of and address diversity in supervisory relationship and endorse supervisees who are qualified and can perform duties required of them.

In compliance with section G (research and publications), counselors will conduct researches aligned with ethical principles, laws, regulations and standards governing them, adhere to confidentiality in the research, inform research participants of their rights through informed consent, take responsibility for participants’ welfare in the research period and accurately plan, conduct and report their research. In compliance with section H (distant counseling, technology and social media), counselors will be knowledgeable on laws governing social media and distant counseling, utilize distance counseling only when competent, understand merits and demerits of distance counseling, inform clients on confidentiality limits and potential internet interruptions, not disclose confidential information via social media, utilize professional presence in social media platforms and utilize participants’ informed consent to explain limits of social media.

Many studies of collaborative care interventions which involve follow-up telephone from managers have been done, but use of internet or any other telehealth resources have not been integrated. More studies of telehealth sessions which integrate latest technologies should be done. Since most studies show positive effects of various telehealth interventions for depression on patients; we expect to find reduction in level of depression after treatment. We also expect individual CBT telehealth chat-based sessions to have better impact than peer support group telehealth chat-based sessions References Beck, A. T. Evidence-Based Mental Health, 20(4), 98. doi:http://dx. doi. org/10. eb-2017- 102765 Ghassemzadeh, H. Kim, T. K. T test as a parametric statistic. Korean journal of anesthesiology, 68(6), 540. McLellan, L. doi. org/10. bec. Stockings, E. Degenhardt, L.

Merrell, D. Telehealth and neuropsychological assessment: New opportunities for psychologists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 31(2), 179. Wang, Y. P.