Pilot-testing of a mobile phone application to support the mental health of Australian workers.

Anchored' is a smartphone application-based intervention that is adapted from HeadGear, a smartphone application centred on behavioural activation (BA) and mindfulness. The HeadGear app was designed for individuals working in male-dominated industries, while the new Anchored app is more broadly aimed at all working adults. The Anchored app is designed for self-directed use by an individual on a smartphone device. It features interactive content, delivered by on-screen text, audio, static and interactive image displays and videos. The app can be accessed by the participant on their smartphone at a time and location of their choosing. The main therapeutic component of the Anchored app takes the form of a 30 day intervention in which users complete one ‘challenge’ daily (5- 10 minutes per day). These 'challenges' feature a variety of evidence-based therapeutic techniques delivered using a range of formats including: psychoeducational videos (on coping skills and resilience, mindfulness, and behavioural activation); mindfulness exercises; value-driven activity planning, goal-setting and review; and coping skill development (problem solving, sleep, grounding, alcohol use, assertiveness, and training in adaptive forms of coping). At the commencement of the intervention, users complete a risk calculator that assesses risk for future common mental disorders and provides participants with personalised feedback regarding this risk. The risk calculator uses an algorithm based on 20 inventory questions developed from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (HILDA), and has been validated in the Australian adult population. Other components of the Anchored app include a mood tracker, a toolbox of skills (which is filled as the intervention is completed), and support service helplines. Users will have access to the application indefinitely. As this is an unguided app, no administration/instruction will be delivered. The application monitors use time and frequency, and 'challenge' completion rates.