NYWell: Investigating the potential for a digital bridge to mental health care for transition-age youth
In collaboration with Dr. Michael Birnbaum from Northwell Health, Strong365 Lab conducted a randomized control trial that tested the efficacy of a digital outreach campaign paired with an interactive online care navigation platform to shorten pathways to appropriate mental health care for transition-age youth across New York State. The project was co-designed with young people with lived experience, their family members, and clinicians.
Using Google search and social media ads, the NYWell campaign targeted youth and their allies in the earliest stages of help-seeking, as they sought information about mental health symptoms and resources online. Users were led to an online hub that offered live connection to a peer mentor or counselor, a self-assessment mental health quiz, and educational resources – all designed to promote help-seeking.
The campaign successfully advanced help-seeking, offering a bridge to in-person care, particularly for youth reporting symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as youth located in low-income areas of the state. Overall, our findings suggest that self-reported symptomatology via online search impacts trajectories to care. An online care navigation team has the potential to serve as an important resource for individuals – including traditionally underserved populations – with emerging behavioral health concerns and help to guide the transition between early online information seeking to care.
