A Web- and Mobile-Based Map of Mental Health Resources for Postsecondary Students (Thought Spot): Protocol for an Economic Evaluation

Amandeep Kaur; Wanrudee Isaranuwatchai; Aliya Jaffer; Genevieve Ferguson; Alexxa Abi-Jaoude; Andrew Johnson; Elisa Hollenberg; David Wiljer

doi:10.2196/resprot.9478

A Web- and Mobile-Based Map of Mental Health Resources for Postsecondary Students (Thought Spot): Protocol for an Economic Evaluation

JMIR Res Protoc. 2018 Mar 29;7(3):e83. doi: 10.2196/resprot.9478.

Authors

Amandeep Kaur¹, Wanrudee Isaranuwatchai^{2

3}, Aliya Jaffer³, Genevieve Ferguson⁴, Alexxa Abi-Jaoude⁴, Andrew Johnson⁴, Elisa Hollenberg⁴, David Wiljer^{4

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ The Western Centre for Public Health and Family Medicine, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
² Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
³ Centre for Excellence in Economic Analysis Research, St. Micheal's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴ Office of Education, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁶ Education, Technology and Innovation, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Abstract

Background: Youth demonstrate a low propensity to seek help for mental health issues and exhibit low use of health services despite the high prevalence of mental health challenges in this population. Research has found that delivering interventions via the internet and mobile devices is an effective way to reach youth. Thought Spot, a Web- and mobile-based map, was developed to help transition-aged youth in postsecondary settings overcome barriers to help-seeking, thereby reducing the economic burden associated with untreated mental health issues.

Objective: This paper presents the protocol for an economic evaluation that will be conducted in conjunction with a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness and cost of Thought Spot compared with usual care in terms of self-efficacy for mental health help-seeking among postsecondary students.

Methods: A partially blinded RCT will be conducted to assess the impact of Thought Spot on the self-efficacy of students for mental health help-seeking. Students from 3 postsecondary institutions in Ontario, Canada will be randomly allocated to 1 of 2 intervention groups (resource pamphlet or Thought Spot) for 6 months. The economic evaluation will focus on the perspective of postsecondary institutions or other organizations interested in using Thought Spot. Costs and resources for operating and maintaining the platform will be reported and compared with the costs and resource needs associated with usual care. The primary outcome will be change in help-seeking intentions, measured using the General Help-Seeking Questionnaire. The cost-effectiveness of the intervention will be determined by calculating the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, which will then be compared with willingness to pay.

Results: The RCT is scheduled to begin in February 2018 and will run for 6 months, after which the economic evaluation will be completed.

Conclusions: We expect to demonstrate that Thought Spot is a cost-effective way to improve help-seeking intentions and encourage help-seeking behavior among postsecondary students. The findings of this study will help inform postsecondary institutions when they are allocating resources for mental health initiatives.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03412461; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03412461 (Archived at WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6xy5lWpnZ).

Keywords: economic evaluation; health economics; mental health; participatory action research; transition-aged youths.

©Amandeep Kaur, Wanrudee Isaranuwatchai, Aliya Jaffer, Genevieve Ferguson, Alexxa Abi-Jaoude, Andrew Johnson, Elisa Hollenberg, David Wiljer. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 29.03.2018.

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT03412461