The Essential Network (TEN): Protocol for an Implementation Study of a Digital-First Mental Health Solution for Australian Health Care Workers During COVID-19

Matthew James Coleshill; Peter Baldwin; Melissa Black; Jill Newby; Tanya Shrestha; Sam Haffar; Llewellyn Mills; Andrew Stensel; Nicole Cockayne; Jon Tennant; Samuel Harvey; Helen Christensen

doi:10.2196/34601

The Essential Network (TEN): Protocol for an Implementation Study of a Digital-First Mental Health Solution for Australian Health Care Workers During COVID-19

JMIR Res Protoc. 2022 Mar 9;11(3):e34601. doi: 10.2196/34601.

Authors

Matthew James Coleshill^{1

2}, Peter Baldwin^{1

2}, Melissa Black^{1

3}, Jill Newby^{1

3}, Tanya Shrestha^{1

2}, Sam Haffar^{1

2}, Llewellyn Mills⁴, Andrew Stensel^{1

2}, Nicole Cockayne^{1

2}, Jon Tennant^{1

2}, Samuel Harvey^{1

2}, Helen Christensen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Black Dog Institute, Sydney, Australia.
² University of New South Wales Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
³ School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
⁴ Discipline of Addiction Medicine, Faculty Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.

PMID: 35148269
PMCID: PMC8916098
DOI: 10.2196/34601

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has placed health care workers (HCWs) under severe stress, compounded by barriers to seeking mental health support among HCWs. The Essential Network (TEN) is a blend of digital and person-to-person (blended care) mental health support services for HCWs, funded by the Australian Federal Department of Health as part of their national COVID-19 response strategy. TEN is designed as both a preventative measure and treatment for common mental health problems faced by HCWs. New blended services need to demonstrate improvements in mental health symptoms and test acceptability in their target audience, as well as review implementation strategies to improve engagement.

Objective: The primary objective of this implementation study is to design and test an implementation strategy to improve uptake of TEN. The secondary objectives are examining the acceptability of TEN among HCWs, changes in mental health outcomes associated with the use of TEN, and reductions in mental health stigma among HCWs following the use of TEN.

Methods: The implementation study contains 3 components: (1) a consultation study with up to 39 stakeholders or researchers with implementation experience to design an implementation strategy, (1) a longitudinal observational study of at least 105 HCWs to examine the acceptability of TEN and the effectiveness of TEN at 1 and 6 months in improving mental health (as assessed by the Distress Questionnaire [DQ-5], Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-9], Generalized Anxiety Disorder [GAD-7], Oldenburg Burnout Inventory [OBI-16], and Work and Social Adjustment Scale [WSAS]) and reducing mental health stigma (the Endorsed and Anticipated Stigma Inventory [EASI]), and (3) an implementation study where TEN service uptake analytics will be examined for 3 months before and after the introduction of the implementation strategy.

Results: The implementation strategy, designed with input from the consultation and observational studies, is expected to lead to an increased number of unique visits to the TEN website in the 3 months following the introduction of the implementation strategy. The observational study is expected to observe high service acceptability. Moderate improvements to general mental health (DQ-5, WSAS) and a reduction in workplace- and treatment-related mental health stigma (EASI) between the baseline and 1-month time points are expected.

Conclusions: TEN is a first-of-a-kind blended mental health service available to Australian HCWs. The results of this project have the potential to inform the implementation and development of blended care mental health services, as well as how such services can be effectively implemented during a crisis.

International registered report identifier (irrid): DERR1-10.2196/34601.

Keywords: COVID-19; blended care; burnout; health care service; health care workers; health service; mental health.

©Matthew James Coleshill, Peter Baldwin, Melissa Black, Jill Newby, Tanya Shrestha, Sam Haffar, Llewellyn Mills, Andrew Stensel, Nicole Cockayne, Jon Tennant, Samuel Harvey, Helen Christensen. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 09.03.2022.