Participants are needed for this study. If you are interested in participating in this study, please contact:
inquiries.hdsciencelab@dal.ca
We will offer a $20 Amazon gift card for each completed interview!
Depression is a common and serious mental health condition. One cost-effective way to reduce its impact is preventing it before it happens, by identifying people at high risk and offering early support. We developed the first risk prediction model that can estimate a person’s likelihood of developing major depressive disorder separately for men and women, using data from over 10,000 Canadians. Building on this model and working with future users, we created a coach-guided tool that helps people understand their personal depression risk, present risk factors, potential to reduce their risk, and self-help strategies. We expect this tool will greatly motivate users to actively engage in self-help and help-seeking, leading to a reduced risk of depression in the population.
We are now conducting a study to assess how well this coach-guided tool helps reduce depression risk and how cost-effective it is compared to other approaches. If effective, this tool could help prevent depression before it starts and contribute to the design of new population-based mental health programs, ultimately improving population mental health and reducing healthcare costs.
