Background
The Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Program for Depression at CAMH has been very beneficial to those willing to commit to the program. Completing the worksheets is essential to gaining the skills learned in the program to manage depression or stress and anxiety.
The problem
Unfortunately, it seems some participants don't do the worksheets at all. The workbook itself is large, cumbersome, and somewhat embarrassing to pull out in public. One of the first exercises is a 3-week hourly activity log that is difficult for many to stick to but necessary to uncover data for the next step in the process.
Some participants drop out entirely, while those who remain may not consistently do their homework and may struggle to see the benefits of their efforts. They may become angry and become frustrated as they just want to get out of their depression.
With this in mind my client and I ask: How might we make CBT worksheets easier to complete and help improve engagement and trust in the process?
PROCESS
The first worksheet we want to tackle and the first major one in the program is an Activity Log that requires participants to note their activity and rate their level of depression doing that activity for every waking hour (e.g. 7am to 11pm) for three weeks.
The problems with the activity log were:
• it was hard to remember to do the activity log every hour
• the three-week commitment to the log is an arduous process, even if the actual input is only a few words
• it is challenging to stop what you are doing in some situations in order to fill it out
• writing can get messy when done in haste and the results may be unreadable
And in general the organization providing these CBT workshops
• has not adopted a digital format because they are obligated to be sensitive to data collection
• is also wary of encouraging screen-based addiction
A sample activity log
A sample of a partially log (details blurred for privacy).
A successfully completed log (details blurred for privacy).
{This is a work in progress. I will add more to document my process as I go along.}
NEXT STEPS and activities in progress
• Competitive analysis: Testing similar apps to get a sense of digital products out there as well as internet-based CBT programs.
• Creating a research plan for interviews with:
- someone at the organization
- therapists who practice CBT, ideally within the organization
- people who have done CBT, ideally through this program
- someone at the organization
- therapists who practice CBT, ideally within the organization
- people who have done CBT, ideally through this program
• Create some quick proto personas based on a snapshot of who attendees of one cohort.
