Protocol for the implementation and assessment of “moodup” ; A stepped care model assisted by a digital platform to accelerate access to mental health care for cancer patients amid the covid-19 pandemic

Funding: This work is financed by national funds through the Research 4 Covid-19 special support from the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P, under the project nr.411. A.J.O.-M. is supported by Portuguese national funds from FCT through grant PTDC/MED-NEU/31331/2017. D.F., B.S., F.C. and A.J.O.-M. are supported by the BOUNCE project (grant agreement number 777167), and F.L.-F. and A.J.O.-M. are supported by the FAITH project (grant agreement number 875358), both funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme ; The COVID-19 pandemic has important consequences for the mental health of populations. Patients with cancer, already at risk for poor mental health outcomes, are not expected to be spared from these consequences, prompting the need for health services to improve responsiveness. This article presents the research protocol for an implementation study designed to describe the uptake of a well-studied and recognized system for the treatment of depression and anxiety (Stepped-care) during the specific context of a Pandemic in an oncological site. The system set-up will be assisted by a digital platform (MoodUP), where patients undergoing cancer treatment will be screened for anxiety and depressive symptoms, triaged by severity level and algorithm-matched to recommended interventions. Patients undergoing cancer treatment at a cancer clinic in Portugal will be invited to subscribe to the MoodUP platform where they will complete a self-reported questionnaire (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) to screen their anxiety and depressive symptoms. Data will be instantly collected, and an algorithm will activate severity-matched intervention suggestions, through a case manager that will coordinate care. The specific objectives of this study will be to describe the implementation and acceptability of the care system by patients and staff, the barriers to and facilitators of implementation, the proportion of patients accessing the system and their pathways through the various ...