Build back better: implementation of a digital health platform to evaluate and promote mental health during and following the COVID-19 pandemic

• Grant number: 21/08774-1
• Support type: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: March 01, 2022 - February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Psychological Treatment and Prevention
• Principal researcher: Ronald Fischer
• Grantee: Ronald Fischer
• Home Institution: INST D OR PESQUISA ENSINO SAO PAULO/IDOR
• Assoc. researchers: Jorge Neval Moll Neto ; Paulo Eduardo Luiz de Mattos
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/08017-9 - Build back better: implementation of a digital health platform to evaluate and promote mental health during and following the COVID-19 pandemic, BP.PD

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted mental health in Brazil and globally due to the high mortality rate and the risk of contamination, the isolation measures widely used to contain the virus and the associated economic and social consequences. The increased demand for mental health services is unlikely to be met by the traditional health system via face-to-face therapeutic interventions, especially as these traditional health resources have been shown to be insufficient to meet the demand even prior to the pandemic. There is an urgent need to develop and extend self-assessment options for concerned individuals over time that use validated, and efficient instruments combined with offering validated psychoeducational initiatives and digital interventions online for the public. This collaborative project between a Brazilian and an English research team aims to create a digital platform to mitigate the psychological effects of the pandemic and offer new options for evidence-based interventions in the mental health domain. We aim to a) provide psychoeducational content introducing interventions and activities that can be used to improve mental health and well-being in a self-guided, safe way and with proven efficacy based on meta-analyses; and b) offer self-assessments of the users' psychological profiles related to mental health (personality, values, cognitive and emotional processes) to increase self-knowledge, self-awareness, and targeted engagement with the online interventions. This project proposes an innovative model combining psychoeducation, self-assessments and validated interventions that is in line with the recommendations of the UN and The Lancet's COVID-19 Commission Mental Health Task Force. The results will be relevant for a better understanding of how the global pandemic has effects on the basic psychology of the population and how to offer effective digital interventions to the general population. (AU)