# Project 2: OBGYN

> **NIH NIH P50** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $57,525

## Abstract

Abstract
Post-partum depression (PPD) affects one in seven women. Untreated PPD can have devastating
consequences including pregnancy-associated suicide, which has remained among the leading contributors to
maternal mortality in the United States. Collaborative care (CC) has been shown in randomized trials to
improve PPD outcomes. However, a major challenge in the implementation of postpartum collaborative care is
the overburdened role of the care manager (CM), the lynchpin of the collaborative care model. CMs are
managing many more patients than recommended targets. Additionally, the unique context of the postpartum
period, including newly competing priorities when managing demands of newborn care, often requires multiple
outreach attempts by the CM to promote engagement. Due to these challenges, CMs are only able to complete
the core CC tasks for women with critical mental health needs, leaving most women without the active
management of care or brief behavioral interventions needed to achieve remission of depression.
Technology-enabled services (TES), which use web-based and mobile application supported by low-intensity
coaching or care-management, represent a novel solution that would enable the CMs to more efficiently and
effectively adhere to the core tenants of collaborative care that have been demonstrated to improve depression
outcomes. This research project will use a comprehensive user centered design approach to engage patients,
care managers (CMs) and physicians in the design of a TES—comprised of technologies, CM service protocol,
and implementation plan—that can be successfully deployed in a postpartum collaborative care program. The
overall TES will be designed to support the existing collaborative care model, facilitating the acquisition of
ongoing depression symptom tracking from patients and improving communication with patients, both critical to
informing the stepped care processes. The design innovation focus of this research project will be to design a
CM dashboard that will help organize the CM workflow, promote patient engagement, facilitate communication,
and automate tasks. We will leverage ongoing research efforts in our Center developing CM dashboards that
help CMs better organize their work. Patient-facing tools will focus on completing psychological assessments
and receiving feedback. The effectiveness and implementation of the developed TES will be evaluated in a
stepped wedge cluster randomized trial across 5 perinatal clinics. This project has the potential to create and
assess implementation the first fully functional TES for postpartum collaborative care.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9932045
- **Project number:** 1P50MH119029-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Emily Stinnett Miller
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $57,525
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9932045

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9932045, Project 2: OBGYN (1P50MH119029-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9932045. Licensed CC0.

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