None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The primary objective of this study is to evaluate Shift, a novel smartphone application designed to support the mental health and wellbeing of Junior Medical Officers in a cohort of senior medical students. We anticipate that senior medical students experience reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms after using Shift because the app addresses familiar challenges, for example, through experiences in clinical placement programs. Shift will be the first app of its kind, in that it is specifically designed for emerging doctors who would like to learn about how to improve or maintain their mental health while entering the workforce in the demanding medical profession. The app uses therapeutic elements (cognitive-behavioural, mindfulness, and psycho-educational contents) designed to alleviate or prevent the worsening of mental health symptoms and encourage help-seeking behaviours.
Interventions
The aim of this project is to conduct a preliminary (uncontrolled) quasi-experimental before and after study of a novel smartphone application designed to support the mental health of Junior Medical Officers. In this evaluation study, we will replicate an earlier study described under ACTRN12620000571976 to examine whether this app is also suitable for senior medical students who are about to transition into their junior doctor roles.
The Shift app's conceptual design was modelled after HeadGe
The aim of this project is to conduct a preliminary (uncontrolled) quasi-experimental before and after study of a novel smartphone application designed to support the mental health of Junior Medical Officers. In this evaluation study, we will replicate an earlier study described under ACTRN12620000571976 to examine whether this app is also suitable for senior medical students who are about to transition into their junior doctor roles. The Shift app's conceptual design was modelled after HeadGear, an evidence-informed app delivered by the Black Dog Institute that has been shown to alleviate mental health concerns in working populations (Deady et al., 2018). The prototype and subsequent versions of the Shift app have been adjusted in close collaboration with medical doctors, NSW Health, external digital project designers, and in-house IT developers, user experience, digital learning, and marketing and communication experts within the Black Dog Institute. Initial pilot testing of the Shift app prototype [approved by the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District HREC protocol number 2019/ETH00318, N = 22], further examination among Junior Medical Officers in New South Wales [UNSW HREC protocol number HC200212], and consultations with medical students, resulted in design, content, and user experience updates of the app. Shift is a smartphone application compatible with Apple and Android operating systems. Shift delivers its contents through text, audio, and video addressing topics such as depression, anxiety, burnout, alcohol and drug use, sleep health, shift work, exams and interviews, diet, exercise, rural and regional placements, bullying, grief, and calling for a consult. Shift incorporates general therapeutic elements from cognitive behavioural therapy such as thought evaluation (i.e., identification, evaluation, and modification of unhelpful thoughts) and engagement in valued action (i.e., values-consistent patterns of action). Shift further incorporates relaxation techniques (e.g., progressive muscle relaxation) based in mindfulness and stress-management practice that are intended to lessen the impact of stressful life events or daily stressors. Each of the activities delivered in the app takes about 2 to 5 minutes to complete and users are able to set their own targets (between 2-5 activities per week). The app collects standard usage metrics such as number of logins, number of sessions completed, and time spent on the app. We are aiming to recruit 200 medical students in their 4th, 5th, and 6th years of study to complete an app-based intervention. The proposed study will employ a pre-post design without a control group and will take place entirely online. The overall trial period is four weeks. Baseline and post-study measures assess participants' levels of depression, anxiety, work and social functioning, and help-seeking behaviours. Participants will further be asked to indicate their user experience with the app at the post-study assessment.
Sponsors
UNSW Sydney (University of New South Wales, Sydney)
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Intervention model
Single group
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
It was established with the university faculty prior to recruitment that it would be difficult to direct recruitment information only to more senior students. Therefore, we still targeted more senior students in our recruitment calls but allowed all medical students to participate should they read or hear about the study and be interested to join. We received ethical approval for this modification prior to our recruitment start date. As such, the change was implemented after registering to ANZCTR but before recruitment of study participants commenced. The inclusion criteria requires participants to be: - Willing to provide consent to participate, and - Currently enrolled as a medical student at UNSW, Sydney, and - Own an internet-enabled smartphone with an Apple or Android operating system
Exclusion criteria
Candidates will be excluded from the study if they: - Do not provide consent to participate, or - Are not currently medical students at UNSW, Sydney, or - Do not own an internet-enabled smartphone with an Apple or Android operating system
Outcome results
None listed