Online Training For Addressing Perinatal Depression

Project Summary
The primary goal of this proposal is to develop implement and evaluate an online module to improve obstetric
providersandapos knowledge skills and practices regarding perinatal depression There is a tremendous public health
need for addressing this problem as upwards of in women suffer from perinatal depression Left untreated
it has deleterious effects on maternal and birth outcomes infant attachment and childrenandapos s
behavior development Maternal suicide causes of postpartum deaths in depressed women Although the
vast majority of perinatal women are amenable to being screened for depression screening alone does not
improve treatment rates or patient outcomes While the majority of obstetric providers report wanting to
address depression fear of liability discomfort and lack of knowledge and resources present barriers
Addressing these barriers requires a practical and sustainable approach To meet this need our team
developed the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project MCPAP for Moms MCPAP for Moms
provides training for obstetric providers on how to detect assess and treat perinatal depression Our training
has been identified as a model for other states stakeholders from different states across the country have
contacted our team and requested our training materials However our training was developed specific to the
Massachusetts environment and available mental health resources and is currently delivered in person To fill
training gaps in other states and make training more broadly accessible we propose to develop a state of the
art training module The Basics of Addressing Perinatal Depression which will be delivered online and take
into account the different mental health resources available in other states across the US The module will
support obstetric providers to implement depression screening assess depression and comorbidities
triage and refer complicated cases to psychiatric providers treat women with less complicated illness and
consider risks and benefits of different treatment modalities We will conduct a formative evaluation of this
module via in depth interviews with obstetric providers and revise refine based on iterative feedback We
will then conduct a summative evaluation by implementing the module with a different obstetric providers by
a obtaining data on provider knowledge acquisition and satisfaction pre post test comparison and change in
knowledge attitudes and practices toward depression screening among providers and b providers
perception of change in mental health treatment initiation among women pre post test survey If shown to be
effective our training will help obstetric providers implement depression screening and develop the processes
they need to respond appropriately when women are depressed thus getting women the care they need Our
combined expertise in the integration of obstetric and depression care adult learning perinatal psychiatry and
Ob Gyn along with our established relationships with stakeholders make us ideally suited to implement
evaluate and disseminate our training If proven effective our training will be poised for national dissemination
Project Narrative
We will leverage existing roles and resources in Ob Gyn settings to provide a solution to a critical public health
issue perinatal depression Our proposed training module The Basics of Addressing Perinatal Depression
has the potential to address a training gap and increase provider and practice capacity to detect assess and
treat perinatal depression which is an essential part of the system change needed to positively impact the
health and wellness of many mothers families and babies