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Healing at Home 2.0 - Enhanced Chat Tool for Lowering Postpartum Depression

Healing at Home 2.0 - Enhanced Chat Tool for Lowering Postpartum Depression

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06877104
Acronym
HEALED
Enrollment
156
Registered
2025-03-14
Start date
2025-03-13
Completion date
2026-08-18
Last updated
2026-09-03

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Depression, Postpartum, Postpartum Care

Keywords

Chat tool, Depression, Text message based program, Postpartum Care

Brief summary

The purpose of the study is to determine if access to a text-message based holistic chatbot support program "Healing at Home 2.0" decreases depressive symptoms as measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) compared to usual postpartum care for patients of color.

Detailed description

Healing at Home (H@H) 2.0 is a comprehensive technology-based postpartum support program which provides 24/7 support to individuals through use of an SMS chatbot for six weeks postpartum. This will be a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with an intervention arm consisting of patients who are planning to be discharged at routine timing (as determined by their clinical team) with access to H@H 2.0 postpartum SMS chatbot platform and a control arm which consists of usual postpartum care.

Interventions

OTHERHealing @ Home Program (H@H 2.0)

Healing @ Home 2.0 is a clinically used comprehensive technology-based postpartum support program, which provides 24/7 support to individuals through use of a text message based chatbot for six weeks postpartum. Content of H@H 2.0 includes anticipatory guidance regarding physical recovery, infant care and feeding, clinical algorithms to respond to urgent patient needs.

Sponsors

University of Pennsylvania
Lead SponsorOTHER
March of Dimes
CollaboratorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Postpartum patients who have delivered a singleton baby at or after 37w0d at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania * Self-identify as a person of color (listed on chart as non-White race and confirmed with patient) * Able to speak, read and write English * Age ≥18 * Prenatal care at outpatient practice affiliated with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania * Completion of clinically administered EPDS during inpatient stay * Routine discharge timing, day 2 or more after vaginal delivery, day 3 or more after cesarean delivery

Exclusion criteria

* Unable to provide informed consent * Baby not discharged with mother at postpartum discharge * Does not have access to a mobile phone

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) Screening ScoreAt 6 weeks postpartumScores from the validated EPDS screening tool will be calculated using standard scoring criteria for each of the 10 items. A score of 9 or greater or indication of suicide ideation will be used to indicate a positive depression screen.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Postpartum visit attendanceUp to 3 months postpartumWhether or not the patient attended their routine postpartum visit which should occur around the 6-week postpartum mark. We will accept routine postpartum visits up to 12-weeks postpartum.
Count of unscheduled emergency room/postpartum triage visitsUp to 6 weeks postpartumThe number of unscheduled visits, reason for visit, whether or not patient was admitted to hospital in the first 6 weeks postpartum will be counted
Mode of feedingAt baseline and 6 weeks postpartumPatient asked mode of feeding at two time points. Options are exclusively breastfeeding, formula feeding only, or both breast and formula feeding.
Scores of self-efficacy in infant careAt baseline and at 6 weeks postpartumScores from the validated Self-efficacy in the Nurturing Role (SENR) tool will be calculated using Likert scale scoring criteria for each of the 16 items. Negative items are reverse-scored such that higher scores on the items always reflect greater self-efficacy.
Knowledge of postpartum warning signsAt baseline and at 6 weeks postpartumUsing a question from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment measure survey (PRAMS) to ask patients to identify warning signs of complications that can occur after birth
Score of Postpartum sleep: qualityAt baseline and at 6 weeks postpartumOne question Likert scale ranking quality of sleep from terrible to excellent.
Postpartum sleep: hoursAt baseline and at 6 weeks postpartumAverage number of hours slept in the past 7 days.
Postpartum pain score24 hours prior to discharge from hospitalScores from a 10-item question from the validated Brief Pain Inventory short form will be calculated using Likert scale scoring criteria with scores ranging from 0-100. Higher scores mean higher pain.
Social support and maternal functioning scoreAt 6 weeks postpartumScores from the validated Barkin Index of Maternal Functioning tool will be calculated using Likert scale scoring criteria for each of the 20 questions. The total score ranges from 0 to 120, with a score of 120 representing perfect functioning.
Implementation outcome: Acceptability of Intervention MeasureAt 6 weeks postpartum4-item Likert scale where scores can range from 4 to 20. High scores indicate higher acceptability. Given to the intervention group only.

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORKirstin Leitner, MD

University of Pennsylvania

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Sep 4, 2026