New tool developed at Uni NSW provides a confidential online support tool for patients in busy or isolated lives. MyCompass will also be trialled by NASA to aid with prolonged periods in space. The Mars Mission would be one such example, where treatment could be over 300 days away.
As Lynne Minion wrote for Healthcare IT NEWS on 7 Sept 2017... "Developed by researchers at the Australian mental health not-for-profit as an interactive self-help tool, the online platform will be studied in the NASA-funded clinical trial beginning this month for possible use by astronauts on long-duration space missions.
Previous studies have shown the clinical effectiveness of myCompass in reducing mental health symptoms in earth-bound people with mild-to-moderate depression, anxiety and stress. Now the technology will be tested among “astronaut-like” adults.
Head of the Black Dog Institute’s myCompass program Dr Janine Clarke said the new study represents an unprecedented opportunity to see how effective the program can be when real-time, face-to-face psychological help is unavailable. “With missions to Mars expected to take over two years to complete, equipping astronauts with strategies to handle not only extreme physical environments but also psychological distress is vital,” Clarke said.
“Astronauts are at a high risk of experiencing mental distress for a range of reasons. They are generally extremely high achieving, on mission they experience long-term social isolation, they confront ongoing physical strain and mental challenges including persistent threats to their safety, and they have limited access to the types of supports that many of us take for granted, including ready access to friends and family, and physical activity.” "
This tool is not just for astronauts, it is for anyone feeling the internal or external pressures of life and their impact on mood.
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