Elsevier

Healthcare

Volume 10, Issue 3, September 2022, 100640
Healthcare

COBALT: Supporting the mental well-being of the health care workforce with technology-facilitated care during Covid-19 and beyond

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hjdsi.2022.100640Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Abstract

Two-thirds of health professionals facing the clinical demands of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic experience psychiatric symptoms, including post-traumatic stress, anxiety, substance use, depression, insomnia, and suicide.1,2 Compounding matters, access to mental health services is poor, quality is variable, and stigma is prevalent. COBALT, a digital mental health and wellness platform developed at Penn Medicine, was designed to support health care workers, offering a combination of self-directed resources, virtual group sessions, and individual appointments with a stepped care model of providers, including peers, resilience coaches, psychotherapists, and psychiatrists. In COBALT's first 11 months, the platform saw approximately 10,000 users, 200,000 page views, 1,400 one-on-one appointment bookings, over 1,000 group appointment reservations, and 158 interceptions of employees contemplating self-harm. COBALT reveals the unmet demand for mental health support among health professionals and provides a model for both expanding the supply of and streamlining access to services.

Keywords

COVID 19
Healthcare workers
Mental health
Technical platforms

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