Symposia
Dissemination & Implementation Science
Kendra S. Knudsen, M.A.
Doctoral Student
UCLA
Los Angeles, California
Tamar Kodish, M.A.
Clinical Psychology PhD Student
University of California Los Angeles
Santa Monica, CA
Benjamin Rosenberg, MA, CPhil
PhD Student
UCLA
Los Angeles, California
Zachary Cohen, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA
Elizabeth Gong-Guy, PhD
Former Executive Director of University of California Office of Campus and Student Resilience
UCLA
Los Angeles, California
Michelle G. Craske, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
University of California Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Many individuals in need of mental health services do not currently receive care. Scalable programs are needed to reduce the burden of mental illness among those without access to existing providers. Digital interventions present one avenue for increasing the reach of mental health services, particularly for individuals and communities who face barriers to traditional models of care. These interventions often rely on paraprofessionals, also often described as lay health workers or coaches, to support the treatment delivery. Although paraprofessional models of care hold immense promise, providers must ensure that treatments are delivered with high fidelity and adherence. In this presentation, we first highlight the tension between the scalability and fidelity of mental health services. Next, we describe how digital interventions with trained paraprofessional support have potential to address needs for care that scalable and delivered with sufficient fidelity. We then describe the design and implementation of a peer-to-peer coach training program, designed to support a digital mental health intervention for undergraduate students within university settings, and provide preliminary descriptive data on this program. Data demonstrate that n=760 coaches have been trained to date, across n=3 implementation settings. Strategies to emphasize fidelity within our model are highlighted, including principles of learning theory and competency-based supervision. Tools employed to support measurement-based training and supervision within this program are reviewed. Finally, future applications of this work are discussed, including the potential adaptability of this model for use within other contexts.