Piloting a virtual perinatal mental health platform

Women’s College Hospital

“Mental health issues during and around the time of pregnancy are so unbelievably common, yet as few as 20% actually receive treatment,” explains Simone Vigod, women’s health psychiatrist and clinical researcher. “I’ve worked for years as a perinatal mental health specialist – I know the literature, I know we have effective existing treatments. So, if we can make sure that people get those treatments, we should be able to help way more than that 20%.”

Instead of putting their focus on creating new treatments, Simone and her team started by asking themselves whether and how they could increase access to and uptake of existing treatments by creating a more coordinated system of care. This led them to develop MOVIN: a virtual screening, referral, and care platform for perinatal women to be able to access the right intensity of care based on their level of need.

“In our pilot study, 75% of women were in remission at the end of six months, and only two of them needed to see a reproductive psychiatrist,” shares Simone. “In our control group who didn’t use the platform, 50% were unwell.”

For Sara Byrnell, VP of Philanthropy & Partnerships at Women’s College Hospital Foundation, this approach is “Really about getting to the heart of the issue and optimizing and innovating how we use what’s already at our disposal.”

To make the platform more inclusive, the team set up a diversity committee and conducted a diversity audit. “Our pilot project had already been funded, and the additional support from Daymark was crucial in enhancing how we included and appealed to a diverse group of pregnant and postpartum people,” says Simone.