The Department of Veterans Affairs has begun a trial of the PTSD Coach app to test whether the app is more successful with clinical support.
The app is not new—it launched in April 2011. It offers a self-assessment tool, educational information about PTSD, a portal to connect with other patients and PTSD management tools. However, the new trial will assess the effectiveness of the technology with and without clinician supervision, according to MobiHealthNews.
The investigators will conduct primary interviews with primary care and mental health practitioners before moving on to a 16-week study of 30 veterans with PTSD. The researchers will compare patients based on reductions in PTSD, depression and general distress and increase in health-related functions, increases in knowledge PTSD symptoms, management strategies and coping mechanisms and increases in initiation of PTSD treatments, according to the report.
The trial will take place at the Syracuse (N.Y.) VA Medical Center, according to the report.