Study To Find Out Ways To Increase Talk Therapy Accessibility To All Women

While having a child, throughout and following pregnancy, the majority of women face anxiety and depression. It is said to be the most widespread complication related to the pregnancy. During the perinatal period, almost 1 in 5 females is found facing these issues. Talk therapy—a verified and effectual treatment technique—helps to deal with this situation. However, in the present situation, this care is made available to less than 1 in 5 females.

The latest study, co-headed by Daisy Singla and Samantha Meltzer-Brody, is aimed at finding out the ways to increase the accessibility of the talk therapy treatment to the majority of women. According to Meltzer-Brody, “This study attempts to meet the public health need of providing psychotherapy like behavioral activation to perinatal women on a population level. Many people don’t get the services they need, especially in rural areas. We want to reach people where they are and increase access for these patients.”

Being a type of psychotherapy, behavioral activation (BA) is focused on training patients to acquire the skills required to make minute changes in behavior, which can enhance their mental health altogether and mood. This research received the funds of about $13.2 Million from the PCORI (Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute).

This research attempts to find out who can offer the treatment effectively. It will also focus on finding out the method that would help patients to get the treatment in the best possible way. This study will start in January 2020. For this randomized controlled trial, the participating institutions are supposed to recruit approximately 1,300 pregnant or postpartum females.

Singla proclaimed that the nurses, who are non-specialists, contributing to this research will be offered the training so that they can provide BA therapy efficiently. She added that BA is a globally used intervention technique from many decades.

On a similar note, in young people, watching more television or spending too much time on social media has been associated with depression symptoms. A recent study published at JAMA Pediatrics discloses to what level depression and screen time can be linked. This study highlights that the severity of depressive signs young people experience goes up with every extra hour they spend watching television or on social media.