Mental Health App for Stress Management in Healthcare Workers

(Messy-Memories Trial)

Overseen By Sheila A.M. Rauch, PhD

Age: 18+

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: Emory University

Disqualifiers: Suicide risk, No trauma, Cognitive impairment, others

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: Unknown

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

This trial tests a mobile app called Messy Memories, designed to help healthcare workers manage stress. The app uses proven techniques to address stress-related issues by allowing users to track mood, distress levels, and self-care habits like sleep and exercise. The goal is to make mental health support more accessible for those on the front lines of healthcare. Participants should be healthcare workers at Emory Healthcare who acknowledge experiencing stressful or traumatic events. As an unphased trial, this study offers healthcare workers a unique opportunity to access innovative stress management tools while contributing to research that could benefit their peers.

Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

The trial information does not specify whether you need to stop taking your current medications.

What prior data suggests that the Messy Memories App is safe for stress management in healthcare workers?

Research shows that mental health apps, such as Messy Memories, are generally safe for users. These apps manage stress using proven methods. Studies have found that similar apps were well-received by healthcare workers during stressful times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Users reported no major safety issues, suggesting that the Messy Memories app is likely safe for most people. However, protecting personal data when using the app is important. Always check the privacy and security settings of mental health apps. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Why are researchers excited about this trial?

Most treatments for stress management in healthcare workers rely on traditional methods like counseling, medication, or mindfulness practices. However, the Messy Memories App is unique because it harnesses technology to offer a personalized, interactive experience. This app allows users to input information about their mood, distress levels, and habits such as sleep and exercise, providing real-time feedback and support. By tracking mood patterns and prompting users with tailored questions, it aims to enhance self-awareness and emotional processing. Researchers are excited about this treatment because it could offer a more accessible, convenient, and engaging way for healthcare workers to manage stress effectively.

What evidence suggests that the Messy Memories App is effective for stress management in healthcare workers?

Research has shown that mobile mindfulness apps can help reduce stress in healthcare workers. For example, one study found that a mindfulness app significantly lowered stress levels during a pandemic. Another study examined several mental health apps and found them generally easy to use and effective in reducing mental health symptoms. Additionally, a review of research highlighted that online and app-based programs can effectively lower work-related stress. In this trial, participants in the Messy Memories App Group will use the Messy Memories app, which may help healthcare workers manage stress. Meanwhile, participants in the Treatment as Usual (TAU) Group will initially receive standard treatment and later gain access to the app, allowing for a comparison of stress management outcomes. ^{3 6 7 8 9}

Who Is on the Research Team?

Sheila A.M. Rauch, PhD

Principal Investigator

Emory University

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

This trial is for male and female frontline healthcare workers aged 18-89, employed at Emory Healthcare/University. They must understand their role in the study and associated risks. Excluded are those not fluent in English, unable to consent, minors, prisoners, cognitively impaired individuals or those with decision-making impairments, people without stressful experiences, or high risk for suicide/self-harm.

Inclusion Criteria

Participants must be employed at Emory Healthcare/University

Anyone who is employed at Emory Healthcare/University is eligible to participate.

Participants must comprehend his or her role in the study and the risks involved in

Exclusion Criteria

I have difficulty making decisions due to cognitive impairment.

You have not experienced any stressful or traumatic events in your life.

I am under 18 years old.

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-4 weeks

Phase I Usability Testing

Participants test the usability of the Messy Memories app, spending approximately 2 hours on study tasks over 2 weeks.

2 weeks

Electronic contact only

Phase II Effectiveness Testing

Participants use the Messy Memories app and complete self-report measures to test its effectiveness over 16 weeks.

16 weeks

Electronic contact only

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for changes in mental health measures such as stress, burnout, and resilience.

4 weeks

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• Messy Memories App

Trial Overview The Messy Memories mobile app is being tested as a mental health intervention for stress-related issues among healthcare workers. The app incorporates practices proven effective in managing stress and aims to provide accessible mental health support through technology.

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Messy Memories App Group Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Subjects will download and have access to the Messy Memories application in addition to completing self-report measures electronically at pre-determined time points. While the subject uses the app, the participant will input information related to their mood over the past few days (affect rating sliders), their level of distress before and after the memory processing, answers to questions about revisiting the memory, answers to questions in the social connection and self-care modules including assessment of, for example, sleep pattern, eating habits, and exercise habits. The Messy Memories app will also collect data on how frequently and for how long each participant uses the app. Each response will trigger a prompt within the app, and will be recorded with a timestamp (date and time) to indicate when the participant provided a particular response. For all participants, self-report measures will be collected at weeks 4, 8, 12, and 16.

Group II: Treatment as usual (TAU) Group Active Control 1 Intervention

Subjects will not receive any study treatments or have access to the app but may seek standard treatment if they choose, in addition to completing self-report measures. For 8 weeks, TAU group will participate in the study under treatment as usual. For weeks 9-16, the TAU group will then switch and have full access to the Messy Memories App to review and use for a limited amount of time. Subjects will download and have access to the Messy Memories application in addition to completing self-report measures electronically at pre-determined time points. While the subject uses the app, the participant will input information related to their mood over the past few days, their level of distress before and after the memory processing, answers to questions about revisiting the memory, answers to questions in the social connection and self-care modules including assessment of, for example, sleep pattern, eating habits, and exercise habits.

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

Emory University

Lead Sponsor

Trials

1,735

Recruited

2,605,000+

Published Research Related to This Trial

The pilot study involving 40 healthcare professionals demonstrated that using the MUSE-S™ wearable brain sensing device for guided mindfulness significantly reduced stress and improved resilience, quality of life, and cognition over 90 days.

Participants reported high adherence to the device, using it an average of 23.8 times in 30 days, with no adverse effects noted, indicating that the device is safe and well-accepted among users.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Mindfulness Using a Wearable Brain Sensing Device for Health Care Professionals During a Pandemic: A Pilot Program. Ghosh, K., Nanda, S., Hurt, RT., et al.[2023]

The WISER intervention significantly reduced burnout among healthcare workers, with a decrease of 5.27 points compared to a control group, indicating its efficacy in improving well-being.

Improvements in burnout, depression, and work-life integration were observed at both 1-month and 6-month follow-ups, suggesting that the benefits of the WISER program are durable over time.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Randomized controlled trial of the "WISER" intervention to reduce healthcare worker burnout. Profit, J., Adair, KC., Cui, X., et al.[2023]

The fitcor intervention is a novel internet and app-based program designed to help healthcare workers manage stress, addressing a critical gap in traditional stress reduction methods that often fail to reach this population due to their demanding schedules.

This randomized controlled trial will involve over 800 healthcare workers across various settings in Germany, assessing the effectiveness of the intervention through multiple measurement points, including psychological and physiological indicators of stress.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

mHealth interventions to reduce stress in healthcare workers (fitcor): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Baumann, H., Heuel, L., Bischoff, LL., et al.[2023]

Citations

1. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9894608/

The Impact of Mindful Meditation on Health Care Workers ... This research project assessed the impact of a mobile mindful meditation application on health care workers' perceived stress levels during a pandemic.

2. mhealth.jmir.org mhealth.jmir.org/2022/11/e41689

Effectiveness of Mental Health Apps for Distress During ... This study found that free, self-guided commercial mobile mental health apps are seen as usable, but no one app is superior to the other.

3. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9642829/

Remote Pragmatic Randomized Clinical Trial - PMC This study seeks to determine the acceptability, feasibility, usability, and effectiveness of mobile mental health apps for decreasing mental health symptoms

4. journals.sagepub.com journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20552076231155680

The development of a smartphone app to enhance post- ... This study aims to systematically detail the development process used to build a smartphone app that supports face-to-face clinical treatment ...

5. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10503239/

A Literature Review to Identify Effective Web- and App-Based ... The aim of this review is to provide an overview of effective web- and app-based interventions for reduction of job-related stress and stress-related symptoms.

6. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8789255/

Toward Designs of Workplace Stress Management Mobile ... Several studies reported high rates of stress-related health issues such as clinically significant depression (23.2%), anxiety (22.8%), and insomnia (38.9%) ...

7. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12371282/

Health Care Workers' Experience With a Psychological Self ... This study focused on how a basic psychological self-monitoring app was experienced by HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec by exploring users' ...

8. reddit.com reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/uo3ahw/were_the_researchers_who_looked_into_the_privacy/

We're the researchers who looked into the privacy of 32 ... A mental health app would be a non-covered entity, so depending on the type of data collected - the data could be considered PHI. If PHI is ...

9. reddit.com reddit.com/r/selfcare/comments/1mj4gtt/as_a_follow_up_to_recent_popular_thread_on_mental/

I've worked with sensitive apps (healthcare, mental health ... guidance on what unsafe and safe health apps look like, and common practices that can expose your data. I hope you find it helpful! ❌ Not safe.