None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Vilage is a communication app that is designed to help young people experiencing suicidal ideation receive support from a small network of up to 5 'buddies' that are selected from their family/friends. These buddies will be able to check in on the young peope and they will be provided with help to effectively communicate with the young people. Study hypotheses are as follows: 1. Village is acceptable to its intended audience (both young people and buddies) 2. Village helps to reduce levels of mental distress, rates of self-harm and rates of hospital presentations in young people using the app Ethics approval will be obtained from the Health and Disability Ethics Committee (HDEC) and lo-cality approval will be secured by the ADHB. Recruitment of participants will be carried out in con-sultation with health professionals at Starship Children’s Hospital and ADHB community mental health services to ensure the young people and their families are able to participate, and supported throughout the type and phase of illness. Both young people and at least one support person per young person will be enrolled so that qualitative data can be collected from both types of users of the app. Paired parental consent and individual assent will be obtained for participants under 16 years of age. All participants will be free to withdraw from the study at any stage. Regardless of the duration of their involvement, all enrolled young people and support people will be offered $20 as koha for their participation
Interventions
Village is an innovative communication application (app) co-designed with young people and families/whanau that aims to help young people obtain regular and timely support from a network of ‘buddies’ (family/whanau or peers) who are in turn educated and supported via information modules within the app to respond appropriately. The app is independently used without external therapist support. Young people will be encouraged to complete a daily 'check in' regarding their mood (quick mood rating u
Village is an innovative communication application (app) co-designed with young people and families/whanau that aims to help young people obtain regular and timely support from a network of ‘buddies’ (family/whanau or peers) who are in turn educated and supported via information modules within the app to respond appropriately. The app is independently used without external therapist support. Young people will be encouraged to complete a daily 'check in' regarding their mood (quick mood rating using a sliding scale) and they will be encouraged to identify and use a range of self-management strategies about which they will be educated while using the app (within a self-help module). They will also be contacted by their buddies on a daily-weekly basis, so that they can let them know how they are doing and what help they need. Buddies are educated in how to respond to young people using a combination of validation and appropriately supportive messages. They are also provided with additional education about wellbeing, self-harm and common mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. The app consists of modules for mood rating, communication with buddies and education about common mental health problems, self-help strategies and communication strategies (the last one being for buddies only). Education modules were developed by an experienced child psychiatrist and modified during co-design sessions with a range of young people and adults. The app will be downloaded onto participants' smartphones and used in a therapist- unsupported manner by them as many times as they wish over a 4 week period (no specific frequency). If concerning messages (regarding risk/suicidal ideation) within the app are detected by inbuilt AI software, participants may be contacted by a real-life telephone support service (Youthline). Frequency, duration and components of app use will be evaluated via app analytics at the end of the trial. Link to explainer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hokq9F3ecYs
Sponsors
Starship Foundation
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Intervention model
Single group
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
13 Years to 18 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Participants will include 20 young people aged 13-18 years of any gender who have presented to acute or community mental health services with suicidal ideation (frequent or with a plan), a suicide attempt or both within the past 4 weeks. Eligible participants will have access to an iPhone or an-droid mobile telephone, reside in the ADHB catchment area (i.e. Auckland), be undertaking any kind of routine care (including psychotherapy and medication), speak adequate English and be able to provide informed consent.
Exclusion criteria
Participants who do not meet all the inclusion criteria will be excluded.
Outcome results
None listed