1 Baldwin PA, et al. BMJ Innov 2022;0:1–6. doi:10.1136/bmjinnov-2021-000807 1 Black Dog Institute, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia 2 School of Medicine, UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 3 School of Psychology, UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Correspondence to Dr Peter Andrew Baldwin, Black Dog Institute, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia; p.baldwin@ blackdog.org.au PAB and MJB are joint first authors. Received 6 July 2021 Accepted 6 December 2021 The Essential Network (TEN): rapid development and implementation of a digital-first mental health solution for Australian healthcare workers during COVID-19 Peter Andrew Baldwin, 1,2 Melissa Jane Black, 1,3 Jill M Newby, 1,3 Lyndsay Brown, 1 Nicole Scott, 1 Tanya Shrestha, 1 Nicole Cockayne, 1 Jonathan Tennant, 1 Samuel B Harvey, 1,2 Helen Christensen 1,2 To cite: Baldwin PA, Black MJ, Newby JM, et al. BMJ Innov Epub ahead of print: [please include Day Month Year]. doi:10.1136/ bmjinnov-2021-000807 Early- stage innovation report © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. INTRODUCTION The COVID-19 pandemic has presented healthcare workers (HCWs) with extraor- dinary, unabating stress. 1 International data suggest that front-line HCWs are at increased risk of poor mental health, 2 with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) a significant concern. 3–5 Early mental health treatment can lower the risk of HCWs developing more chronic and poten- tially disabling difficulties; 2 however, many HCWs avoid seeking help due to concerns about stigma, 2 6 confidentiality and negative impacts on their employ- ment. 7 8 HCWs urgently need accessible and effective mental health services that sidestep these systemic barriers. HCW-specific services must address the unique challenges of healthcare. During a pandemic, HCWs encounter unique stressors, such as fear of infecting their families or watching colleagues die, 9 10 and differ greatly in how they react to stress. 11 Therefore, HCWs need a responsive, tailored mental health service that can address a range of concerns, from acute distress to moral injury 12 and psychiatric disorders like PTSD. 3 4 Another challenge is delivering such personalised services at the required scale in the context of an ongoing pandemic. With tens of millions of HCWs across the globe, 13 researchers have called for self-guided mental health tools for HCWs than can be rapidly scaled. 14 Existing national healthcare- focused services have recommended streamlined triage for HCWs with fast-tracking into person-to-person treat- ments. 15 Only technology-driven solu- tions can service these needs while rapidly adapting and scaling during a crisis. A diverse anthology of patient- focused digital mental health inter- ventions 16 17 have paved the way for multichannel digital hubs, such as Learn, Assess, Manage, Prevent, that can both personalise and centralise scalable care across states and even international borders. 18 Yet despite these global inno- vations, few such services for HCWs exist Summary box What are the new findings? ► Healthcare workers (HCWs) urgently need mental health support, but face many barriers to accessing care. ► We developed and implemented Australia’s first blended mental healthcare service created by and for HCWs. ► Agile development, cross-discipline support and iterative consumer consultation were key drivers of service design and boosting uptake. How might it impact on healthcare in the future? ► Our project demonstrates how others can rapidly deploy digital-first services that deliver personalised, evidence-based mental healthcare at scale during a crisis. ► Such services could transform the global effort to protect and empower our healthcare workforce through COVID-19 and beyond. on April 14, 2022 by guest. Protected by copyright. http://innovations.bmj.com/ BMJ Innov: first published as 10.1136/bmjinnov-2021-000807 on 18 January 2022. Downloaded from