Using Caring Contacts to Reduce Psychiatric Morbidity Following Hospitalization During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Using Caring Contacts to Reduce Psychiatric Morbidity Following Hospitalization During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Using Caring Contacts to Reduce Psychiatric Morbidity Following Hospitalization During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Subjects will be recently discharged patients from Sunnybrook Inpatient Psychiatry Unit. Subjects will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either the Caring Contact intervention or usual care. 75 subjects will be enrolled in each arm. In additional to usual discharge-related care, subjects in the caring contact group will receive brief emails that convey a message of hope and provide resources. These emails will be sent on days 4, 21, and 56 post-discharge. The specific content of these emails will be pre-determined varying slightly by time point. In contrast, the control group will only receive usual discharge-related care, including discharge planning and also a sheet of resources normally provided to patients. A widely used and validated measure will be employed to assess depression and anxiety symptoms. The 25-item self-report Hopkins Symptom Checklist will be emailed to all subjects at baseline, day 4, 21, and 56 post-discharge, along with the Caring Contact communication. It is hypothesized that there will be a significantly greater reduction in mental health symptoms among patients receiving Caring Contacts compared to those who receive usual care.

Caring Contacts are brief email communications sent to the patient post-discharge. They convey messages of hope, support, promote a sense of belonging, and provide information on resources for care. They are not written uniquely for each patient but are purposefully crafted to intervene on those specific vulnerabilities that form the core of many patients' experiences with intense emotional distress and suicidal thoughts.

The HSCL-25 is a widely-used and validated self-report questionnaire using a Likert scale to measure symptoms of anxiety and depression. Change scores in anxiety and depression will be used to assess effectiveness of intervention.

Inclusion Criteria: Provision of written informed consent Inpatient status in Sunnybrook Inpatient Psychiatry Unit at time of recruitment Have an email or mailing address Ability to read and understand English The ability to understand and comply with the requirements of the study and capable of providing informed consent Exclusion Criteria: A primary Major Neurocognitive Disorder diagnosis

Holman S, Steinberg R, Sinyor M, Lane H, Starritt K, Kennedy SH, Niederkrotenthaler T, Zaretsky A, Castel S, Schaffer A. Caring Contacts to Reduce Psychiatric Morbidity Following Hospitalization During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. Can J Psychiatry. 2023 Mar;68(3):152-162. doi: 10.1177/07067437221121111. Epub 2022 Aug 22.