Effectiveness of the Wellness Together Canada Portal as a Digital Mental Health Intervention in Canada: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The Wellness Together Canada (WTC) portal is a digital mental health intervention that was developed in response to an unprecedented rise in mental health and substance use concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with funding from the Government of Canada. It is a mental health and substance use website to support people across Canada providing digital interventions and services at no cost. Two million people have visited the WTC portal over the course of 1 year since launching; however, rigorous evaluation of this potential solution to access to mental health care during and after the COVID-19 pandemic is urgently required. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to better understand the effectiveness of the existing digital interventions in improving population mental health in Canada. METHODS: The Let's Act on Mental Health study is designed as a longitudinal fully remote, equally randomized (11), double-blind, alternative intervention-controlled, parallel-group randomized controlled trial to be conducted between October 2023 and April 2024 with a prospective follow-up study period of 26 weeks. This trial will evaluate whether a digital intervention such as the WTC improves population mental health trajectories over time. RESULTS: The study was approved by the research ethics board of CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada). It is ongoing and participant recruitment is underway. As of August 2023, a total of 453 participants in the age group of 18-72 years have participated, of whom 70% (n=359) are female. CONCLUSIONS: This initiative provides a unique opportunity to match people's specific unmet mental health and substance use needs to evidence-based digital interventions.