A Digitally-Enhanced Stepped Care Approach for the Improvement of Depression in Cancer Survivors, OASIS Trial Project 3
This clinical trial studies whether a digitally-enhanced stepped care approach works in improving depression in cancer survivors. Nearly one in four cancer survivors suffer from depression, which can cause the patient to experience a lower quality of life or to not follow their cancer treatment regimen. There are guidelines outlining the care patients should receive when experiencing depression; however, many patients do not receive the appropriate care due to a variety of barriers, such as transportation issues or lack of mental health providers. The digitally-enhanced stepped care approach in this study uses a mobile application (app) to deliver depression treatments directly to the patient. The treatments are based on Behavioral Activation (BA) therapy. BA is depression focused therapy which includes tracking daily activities, recording daily mood, and identifying new activities to complete that may help improve mood. The patients interact and complete the BA activities at their pace, and based on patients' response to the app, patients identified with a greater need can be stepped up to receive more intensive care. This may be an effective way to improve depression in cancer survivors.