Recommendations to Increase Effectiveness of a Digital Mental Health Software Program

 Professor Georgia Perakis
 
A McKinsey national survey revealed that employee behavioral health is a top concern that affects workforce productivity. Employers are, therefore, increasingly supporting employees in seeking options for improving their mental health. SilverCloud, a leading global provider of evidence-based digital mental health solutions, has been used by employers to provide treatment support. 

The research team, led by MIT Sloan HSI Professor Georgia Perakis, also includes Dessislava Pachamanova, Professor at Babson College; PhD and MBA  students at the Operations Research Center, MIT; and collaborators from SilverCloud. 

The team is building on prior work in healthcare (for example in hospital operations) and other fields to understand which strategies are most effective for different types of clients.

The research design involves studying the sequences of interactions between program reps (“supporters”) and users (“clients”) to identify how their communications relate to user actions and lead to course completion over time. 

They anticipate important theoretical and practical applications of the methods developed, not only for mental health treatment, but also to other fields in healthcare and beyond.