We research digital mental health at the University of Pennsylvania
Researchers at the Digital Mental Health @ the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) study the use of digital applications for delivering or supporting the implementation of mental health and wellness interventions.
We use implementation science, user-centered design and behavioral economics methods to study the efficacy, effectiveness and implementation of digital mental health apps and platforms in community settings.
See below for some of our key projects. We invite you to contact us if you have a digital mental health technology that you would like to test or need support in developing.
Affiliated centers:
KeepCalm
The KeepCalm app is designed to be an interactive learning and data collection tool to facilitate a team approach to supporting emotion regulation in students. It integrates wearable heart rate tracking to identify and alert educators of heightened stress in their students and remind of them of evidence-based strategies for deescalating stress, supporting proactive coping and preventing challenging behaviors.
FootSteps
The Footsteps app, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, is a data collection tool for one-to-one aides who provide therapeutic support to youth in the community. The app allows aides to collect data on their phone or tablet and provides reminders and feedback to increase accurate and timely progress monitoring. While Footsteps is designed for one-to-one aides working with children on the autism spectrum in classrooms, it can be used with other populations and in other settings.
NeuroFlow
NeuroFlow is a digital mental health platform, available via app or web, that embeds behavioral economics features to better mental wellness through utilizing an initial assessment to place users on the correct path to either engage in self-care or greater mental resilience. The behavior economics principles that Neuroflow employs are designed to increase motivation and engagement with the app through personalized pop-up notification reminders, app gamification (including points accrual for activity completion and celebratory messages for meeting point thresholds) in addition to financial incentives
Contact
Feel free to contact us with any collaboration opportunities, consultation requests or general questions.
Email
heather.nuske@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Phone
(215) 746-6041