# Optimizing Engagement in Digital Mental Health Services among Sexual and Gender Minority Consumers

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2024 · $170,627

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations are disproportionately impacted by mental health concerns
relative to their heterosexual and cisgender peers. SGM populations, however, continue to report unmet mental
health needs because they cannot or do not access mental health services. Digital Mental Health (DMH) has
been recognized as a feasible, economical, and effective approach to broaden the availability of mental health
care to consumers who face barriers to mental health help-seeking. SGM consumers cite a preference for DMH
resources, and this delivery format holds promise to attend to major access barriers experienced by this
consumer group. Yet, the availability of DMH content tailored to the needs of SGM consumers is limited, and a
dearth of research examines SGM populations' actual engagement with DMH services. A potential solution to
fully understand how SGM populations utilize DMH services would be to characterize their engagement within a
natural setting. Leveraging an established partnership with Mental Health America (MHA), a non-profit mental
health advocacy group offering free, evidence-based screenings and self-guided DMH resources, this study will
follow a large, naturalistic sample of SGM DMH consumers with the aims to: 1) characterize consumers' current
and predictive patterns of engagement with MHA's DMH resources and examine consumer characteristics
associated with these different engagement patterns (Aim 1); 2) employ human-centered design approaches to
gain insights related to group-specific processes not captured by MHA's meta-data that impact DMH
engagement among SGM consumers and integrate data to design and build prototype engagement strategies
for consumer evaluation (Aim 2), and; 3) test the tailored engagement strategies with MHA's SGM consumers
using a micro-randomized trial (MRT) design (Aim 3). To accomplish these aims and prepare for a larger R01
trial, the Principal Investigator will receive training in: 1) the theoretical, substantive, and methodological
underpinnings of DMH; 2) big data management and analytic methods, specifically supervised machine learning;
3) human-centered design approaches for designing tailored DMH interventions, and; 4) experimental design
and data analysis for evaluating adaptive DMH interventions. The candidate is an Assistant Professor of Social
Work at the University of Washington whose long-term career goal is to become an expert in the field of mental
health services research, specializing in digital interventions to improve service access for SGM consumers
through increased availability and enhanced acceptability. The proposed study advances this objective by
aligning with the care preferences of SGM consumers, leveraging the infrastructure of an existing DMH platform
at minimal burden to consumers, and contributing evidence towards optimized engagement outcomes for SGM
consumers through the use of tailored strategies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10873265
- **Project number:** 5K01MH131795-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Meghan Romanelli
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $170,627
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-06-21 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10873265

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10873265, Optimizing Engagement in Digital Mental Health Services among Sexual and Gender Minority Consumers (5K01MH131795-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10873265. Licensed CC0.

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