Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
Frontline staff are at risk of poor mental health during pandemics. Ths study aims to use a digital platform to facilitate NHS Highland staffs' psychological self-care strategies and monitor their mood and anxiety in a way that gives them feedback and provides a method of evaluating the intervention.
Who can participate?
NHS Highland staff
What does the study involve?
Participants will be randomly allocated to either receive access to additional support or to no additional support. The study will use participatory methods that enable participants to develop personalised mental health strategies via a digital platform. These strategies are rooted in evidence-based positive psychology principles (such as mindfulness-based interventions) and will be used with the aim of treating both psychological distress and enhance resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ongoing feedback and interactive messaging will promote self-awareness and prompt participants to utilise their strategies optimally.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Participants who are randomly allocated to receive the intervention will have extra mental health support during the pandemic.
There make be some level of emotional upset relating to the issues discussed, but no other risks are anticipated.
Where is the study run from?
The University of the Highlands and Islands (UK)
When is the study starting and how long will it run for?
From June 2020 to September 2020
Who is funding the study?
The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) of the Scottish Government (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Dr Hannes de Kock
hannes.dekock@uhi.ac.uk
Trial website
Contact information
Type
Scientific
Primary contact
Dr Hannes de Kock
ORCID ID
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2468-5572
Contact details
Department of Rural Health and Well-being
University of the Highlands and Islands
Centre for Health Science
Old Perth Road
Inverness
IV2 3JH
United Kingdom
+44 (0)7519581432
hannes.dekock@uhi.ac.uk
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
Nil known
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Nil known
Protocol/serial number
IRAS 284547, v5 04/06/2020
Study information
Scientific title
Using participatory digital platforms to enhance resilience and mental health of Scottish frontline health and care staff during COVID-19
Acronym
Study hypothesis
1. To investigate whether digital psychological interventions have a positive influence on NHS Highland frontline staff psychological well-being and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. To investigate whether digital psychological interventions have a mitigating influence on NHS Highland frontline staff levels of depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ethics approval
Approved 24/06/2020, South West - Frenchay REC (Level 3, Block B, Whitefriars, Lewins Mead, Bristol, BS1 2NT; +44 (0)207 104 8028; frenchay.rec@hra.nhs.uk), ref: 20/SW/0098
Study design
A single centre randomized controlled trial with a cross sectional survey
Primary study design
Interventional
Secondary study design
Randomised controlled trial
Trial setting
Hospitals
Trial type
Quality of life
Patient information sheet
https://uhi.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/covid-19-participatory-digital-mental-health-intervention-4
Condition
Mental wellbeing of NHS staff during the COVID-19 pandemic
Intervention
The three arms of the pilot RCT were made up of the intervention (The NHS Highland Staff Wellbeing Project), treatment as usual app (MPS), and a control condition (wait list). The NHS Highland Staff Wellbeing Project is a digital platform providing personalised mental health strategies, monitoring of anxiety and mood, and feedback and interactive messaging to support NHS staff in maintaining or improving their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. The roll-out of the intervention to the waitlist control group will take place after the RCT. Recruited participants were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to one of the three conditions prior to the RCT.
From the literature, PPI feedback, and the funding call to provide rapid research into COVID-19, the research team decided to restrict the intervention (and all other conditions) to 4 weeks. The first two weeks of the intervention focused on building resilience and the character strength of gratitude, whilst the last two weeks focused on dealing successfully with low mood and anxiety. The treatment as usual intervention was a generic NHS trusted app designed to support psychological well-being and decrease depression and anxiety.
All participants were contacted via email and text in preparation of the RCT starting on 7 September. Participants allocated to different conditions will receive different messages via email and text. The treatment as usual and intervention ntervention groups’ emails (from UHI) and texts (automated) were designed to appear very similar (as to blind these participants from knowing which app they will be receiving). The control group received an email (from UHI) & text message (from MPS) stating that they are on the waiting list and that they will receive the app after the RCT.
All participants will complete a series of questionnaires using OnlineSurveys.ac.uk at the start, middle and end of the study.
Intervention type
Behavioural
Phase
Drug names
Primary outcome measure
1. Psychological changes:
1.1. Anxiety symptoms and depressive symptoms measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7) at baseline, 2, and 4 weeks
1.2. Psychological well-being and mental toughness measured using the Edinburgh Well-being Scale (WEWBS) and Mental Toughness Index (MTI) at baseline, 2, and 4 weeks
Secondary outcome measures
1. State of participants' mental health measured using the and Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6) survey at baseline, 2, and 4 weeks
Overall trial start date
26/03/2020
Overall trial end date
14/10/2020
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
1. Aged ≥18 years
2. Front line health care staff employed by NHS Highland
3. Capacity to give consent
Participant type
Health professional
Age group
Adult
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
180
Total final enrolment
180
Participant exclusion criteria
Does not meet inclusion criteria
Recruitment start date
15/06/2020
Recruitment end date
14/09/2020
Locations
Countries of recruitment
United Kingdom
Trial participating centre
NHS Highland
Assynt House
Beechwood Park
Old Perth Road
Inverness
IV2 3BW
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Organisation
NHS Highland
Sponsor details
Assynt House
Beechwood Park
Old Perth Road
Inverness
IV2 3BW
United Kingdom
+44 (0)1463 255912
frances.hines@nhs.scot
Sponsor type
Hospital/treatment centre
Website
Organisation
University of the Highlands and Islands
Sponsor details
Executive Office
12b Ness Walk
Inverness
IV3 5SQ
United Kingdom
+44 (0) 1463 279000
Sarah-Anne.Munoz@uhi.ac.uk
Sponsor type
University/education
Website
Funders
Funder type
Government
Funder name
Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorate
Alternative name(s)
The Chief Scientist Office, CSO
Funding Body Type
government organisation
Funding Body Subtype
Local government
Location
United Kingdom
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
Planned publication in a high-impact peer-reviewed journal.
IPD sharing statement:
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study will be stored in a non-publically available repository (https://myuhi.sharepoint.com/sites/eo-crhwb/Psychological_Resilience/SRUC%20Shared%20Documents/SitePages/Home.aspx). The data is stored securely in the university’s SharePoint site. Only anonymised data will be shared with statisticians. Only the research team will have access to raw data and the data will be kept only for the duration of the data analyses.
Intention to publish date
01/11/2021
Participant level data
Not expected to be available
Basic results (scientific)
Publication list