Evaluation of an eHealth System to Reduce Depression and Increase Resilience After SCI

The availability of symptom monitoring and self-management (SMSM) interventions is especially important for civilians and military populations with spinal cord injuries (SCI). High rates of depressive disorders (20-40%) and anxiety disorders (20-25%) have been found in both civilian and military populations and are significant contributors to both quality of life and well-being after SCI. Previous self-management interventions targeting physical activity and self-reliance in individuals with SCI have demonstrated significant health and lifestyle benefits. However, it has been shown that the injured individual's psychological outlook and mood can either enable or hinder self-management efforts and that currently available SCI-specific self-management programs may be inadequate. Developing interventions to reduce mental health symptoms following SCI is therefore critical to improve the lives of individuals, alleviate resource strain on military and civilian health care systems, and potentially reduce the rate of mortality by suicide in Veterans and civilians living with SCI. The current study will build on prior work developing an intervention platform to assess the effectiveness of this eHealth SMSM system and will test the feasibility and effectiveness of the intervention platform.