Lay mental health self-care telephone guidance

Purpose

The Lay Mental Health Self-Care Guidance model was developed to support the delivery of self-care interventions through a series of structured, short phone calls conducted by trained lay guides. Guides, selected for their strong communication and listening skills, provide orientation to available self-care tools, assistance in selecting the appropriate tools, and support in setting of specific, achievable goals. Calls are monitored for quality, and participants with severe symptoms are referred to qualified professionals. The low-cost, accessible intervention leads to increased tool use and engagement and is a potentially sustainable alternative to professionally guided self-care for people with mild-moderate depression.

Evidence

The research team published a synthesis of the results of six controlled trials of self-care interventions for depression and/or anxiety, focusing on five trials in which lay guidance was compared to self-directed use of the same self-care tools. The trials were conducted in different target populations with mild to moderate depression symptoms (e.g., primary care patients with chronic diseases, post-partum women) and using mental health self-care tools tailored to the specific population. The conclusions were that the lay-guidance model compared to self-directed use of the same self-care tools increased use of and engagement with the tools and significantly decreased depressive symptoms at follow-up. Suggestions are made on how best to implement this innovative care model.

McCusker, J., Lambert, S., Yaffe, M., Schwartz, H., Haggerty, J., Belzile, E., Pelland, M. E., Minotti, S. C., & de Raad, M. (2023). Adaptation and outcomes of a lay-guided mental health self-care model: Results of six trials. General hospital psychiatry, 85, 63–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2023.09.010

Materials to download

Guidance manuals and other supports for training are available upon research.stmary [at] ssss.gouv.qc.ca (request).