Digital Interventions to Support Population Mental Health in Canada During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Rapid Review (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a number of negative health related consequences, including impacts on mental health. More than 22% of Canadians reported that they had felt depressed in the last week, in response to a December, 2020 national survey. Given the need to physically distance during the pandemic, and the increase in demand for mental health services, digital interventions that support mental health and wellness may be beneficial. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this research was to identify digital interventions that could be broadly used to reduce the potential mental health impacts of COVID-19 . The objectives were to identify : 1) the populations these interventions were developed for, inclusive of exploring areas of equity such as socio-economic status, sex/gender, race/ethnicity/culture and relevance to Indigenous People’s and communities; 2) the efficacy of the interventions; and 3) any barriers or facilitators to the use of the intervention. METHODS This study was completed using a Cochrane Rapid Review methodology. A search of Embase, Psycinfo, Medline and Web of Science, along with Google, Millionshort and popular mobile application libraries, was conducted. Two screeners were involved in applying inclusion and exclusion criteria using Covidence software. Academic articles and mobile applications identified were screened using the Standard Quality Assessment Criteria for Evaluating Primary Research Papers from a Variety of Fields resource, and the American Psychiatric Association App Evaluation Framework along with the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s guidance on application assessment and selection, respectively. RESULTS The searches of the academic and grey literature identified a total of 25 primary studies, 31 mobile applications and 114 web based resources. These resources have been listed on a publicly available website, along with search tags that may support an individual in identifying a suitable selection. CONCLUSIONS A number of digital interventions have been developed or augmented to support population mental health during the global COVID-19 pandemic. These interventions vary significantly in their purpose, approach, design, cost and targeted user group. While some research and digital interventions addressed equity related considerations, more research and focused attention should be paid to this area, especially as it relates to supports for Indigenous People’s and communities.