Journal Article

Increasing access to mental health supports for 12–17-year-old Indigenous youth with the JoyPop mobile mental health app: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Ohinmaa, Arto, Newton, Amanda, Mushquash, Aislin R., Toombs, Elaine, Stasiuk, Kristine, Bobinski, Tina, Neufeld, Teagan, Malik, Ishaq, Stewart, Sherry H., Schmidt, Fred, Olthuis, Janine V., Dunning, Crystal

2024

Overview

Background Indigenous youth in Northwestern Ontario who need mental health supports experience longer waits than non-Indigenous youth within the region and when compared to youth in urban areas. Limited access and extended waits can exacerbate symptoms, prolong distress, and increase risk for adverse outcomes. Innovative approaches are urgently needed to provide support for Indigenous youth in Northwestern Ontario. Using a randomized controlled trial design, the primary objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness of the JoyPop app compared to usual practice (UP; monitoring) in improving emotion regulation among Indigenous youth (12–17 years) who are awaiting mental health services. The secondary objectives are to (1) assess change in mental health difficulties and treatment readiness between youth in each condition to better understand the app’s broader impact as a waitlist tool and (2) conduct an economic analysis to determine whether receiving the app while waiting for mental health services reduces other health service use and associated costs. Methods A pragmatic, parallel arm randomized controlled superiority trial will be used. Participants will be randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio to the control (UP) or intervention (UP + JoyPop) condition. Stratified block randomization will be used to randomly assign participants to each condition. All participants will be monitored through existing waitlist practices, which involve regular phone calls to check in and assess functioning. Participants in the intervention condition will receive access to the JoyPop app for 4 weeks and will be asked to use it at least twice daily. All participants will be asked to complete outcome measures at baseline, after 2 weeks, and after 4 weeks. Discussion This trial will evaluate the effectiveness of the JoyPop app as a tool to support Indigenous youth waiting for mental health services. Should findings show that using the JoyPop app is beneficial, there may be support from partners and other organizations to integrate it into usual care pathways. Trial registration https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05898516 [registered on June 1, 2023].

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Adolescent / Adverse childhood experiences / Biomedicine / Canadian native peoples / Child / Children & youth / Clinical trials / Community / Comparative analysis / Critical Pathways / Data collection / Emotion regulation / Emotional regulation / Equivalence Trials as Topic / First Nations / Health aspects / Health Sciences / Health services / Humans / Indigenous / Intervention / Medical care, Cost of / Medical law / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Mental Health / Mental health care / Mental Health Services / Mobile Applications / Ontario / Pragmatic Clinical Trials as Topic / Psychiatric services / Psychological aspects / Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Rural / Statistics for Life Sciences / Study Protocol / Technology application / Youth