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Evaluation ViewAttendees 4

Program / Treatment Design
Session Type:: Symposia

Symposium 29 - Harnessing Low-Intensity Treatments to Support People on Mental Health Treatment Waitlists

Saturday, November 22, 2025
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM CST
Location: Imperial 12, Level 4
CE: 1.5

Keywords: Treatment/ Program Design, Technology / Mobile Health, Health Care System
Level of Familiarity: All
Recommended Readings: Buck, B., Kadakia, A., Larsen, A., Tauscher, J., Guler, J., & Ben-Zeev, D. (2024). Digital interventions for people waitlisted for mental health services: A needs assessment and preference survey. Practice Innovations. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/pri0000250,   Peipert, A., Adams, S., & Lorenzo-Luaces, L. (2023). “I would not want the mechanic to direct me to an engine repair manual”: A qualitative analysis of provider perspectives on low-intensity treatments for patients on waiting lists. BMC Psychiatry, 23, 600.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05055-6,   Horwitz, A. G., Mills, E. D., Sen, S., & Bohnert, A. S. (2024). Comparative effectiveness of three digital interventions for adults seeking psychiatric services: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open, 7, e2422115-e2422115. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.22115,   Sung, J. Y., Bugatti, M., Vivian, D., & Schleider, J. L. (2023). Evaluating a telehealth single-session consultation service for clients on psychotherapy wait-lists. Practice Innovations, 8, 141-161.,  

The combination of nationwide provider shortages and rising mental health needs has left the US healthcare system unable to meet the high demand for treatment, leading to months-long waitlists. This is a critical public health concern, given that longer wait-times are associated with increased symptom severity and deterioration, poorer treatment expectancies, and increased odds of not attending a first appointment. Once services are available, longer wait-times are associated with poorer treatment response and increased dropout. To address this crisis, researchers have begun to build, test, and implement low-intensity treatments (LITs; e.g., digital mental health interventions, single session interventions) to provide immediate, interim support to people while they wait for longer-term treatment.

The Double Diamond Model (Design Council, 2019) is a well-stablished service design framework, consisting of four phases: Discover (understand the problem from different viewpoints); Define (define the problem); Develop (iteratively design solutions); and Deliver (test solutions). Directly tied to this year’s conference goal to address problems at the intersection of public health and behavioral health treatment, this symposium will highlight research across the four phases of service design aimed at leveraging LITs to support people on treatment waitlists.

The first three presentations use mixed methods and human-centered design methodologies to discover and define the current processes and needs of treatment waitlists, and develop solutions to address these needs. The first presenter will describe mixed methods data on providers’ waitlist practices, and barriers and facilitators to implementing LITs across treatment waitlists. The second talk will present results from an online needs assessment conducted among adults waitlisted for treatment, and discuss how findings are being used to inform the development of LITs for youth at risk for psychosis on treatment waitlists. The third talk will describe the involvement of patients attending a partial hospital program in the co-development of an internet-based single session intervention for people on the waitlist for partial hospitalization. These studies exemplify diverse methods that can help ensure that LITs are designed and implemented in ways that align with end-users and deployment settings.

The final two presenters will discuss the delivery of LITs across treatment waitlists. First, data will be presented from two open trials of a single session consultation delivered to waitlisted individuals. This study provides crucial data demonstrating the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the single session consultation for people with diverse presenting problems. Then, mental health app usage and engagement patterns will be examined from a randomized controlled trial in which adults were offered self-guided digital mental health interventions while awaiting treatment. Together, these studies support the feasibility of delivering LITs to people during the waitlist period.

Finally, a leading expert in research on LITs will discuss the implications of these studies, and how LITs can be harnessed to address the unmet needs of people on treatment waitlists.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
  1. Discuss provider-identified barriers and facilitators of implementing low-intensity treatments across treatment waitlists.
  2. Describe individuals’ needs and preferences for a digital mental health intervention during the waitlist period.
  3. Describe the use of human-centered design methods to develop a single-session intervention for adults awaiting partial hospitalization.
  4. Discuss the effectiveness of a single session consultation for people on the waitlist for treatment.
  5. Describe engagement patterns among people offered mental health apps during the waitlist period.

Presentations:

  • 10:05 AM - 10:22 AM CST
    (SYM 29) Using a Mixed-methods Approach to Understanding Provider Perspectives of Treatment Waiting Lists and Use of Low-intensity Treatments (LITs)

    Speaker: Allison Peipert, Ph.D. – Indiana University

    Co-author: Sydney M. Adams, B.S. – Indiana University Bloomington

    Co-author: Anne Krendl, PhD – Indiana University Bloomington

    Co-author: Lorenzo Lorenzo-Luaces, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – Indiana University

  • 10:22 AM - 10:39 AM CST
    (SYM 29) Digital Mental Health for Individuals on Treatment Waitlists: Needs Assessment and Emerging Interventions

    Speaker: Benjamin E. Buck, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

    Co-author: Arya Kadakia, B.A. (he/him/his) – University of Washington

    Co-author: Anna Larsen, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – University of Washington

    Co-author: Justin Tauscher, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – University of Washington School of Medicine

    Co-author: Erica Whiting, B.S. (she/her/hers or they/them/theirs) – University of Washington

    Co-author: Jessy Guler, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – University of Washington

    Co-author: Dror Ben-Zeev, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – University of Washington School of Medicine

  • 10:39 AM - 10:56 AM CST
    (SYM 29) Using Human-centered Design Methods to Redesign a Single-session Intervention for Adults on the Waitlist for Partial Hospitalization

    Speaker: Alexandra L. Silverman, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School

    Co-author: Zelda C. McGhee, B.S. – McLean Hospital

    Co-author: Yasamon Salon, BA – McLean Hospital

    Co-author: Doah E. Shin, B.A. – McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School

    Co-author: Juliet L. Bockhorst, B.A. – McLean Hospital

    Co-author: Courtney Beard, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School

  • 10:56 AM - 11:13 AM CST
    (SYM 29) Top Problems Endorsed by Single-session Consultation Clients on Psychotherapy Wait-lists

    Speaker: Jenna Y. Sung, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Boston University

    Co-author: Erica Szkody, Ph.D. – Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

    Co-author: Jessica L. Schleider, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Northwestern University

  • 11:13 AM - 11:30 AM CST
    (SYM 29) Sociodemographic and Clinical Predictors of Mhealth App Usage Among Treatment-seeking Psychiatric Outpatients

    Speaker: Adam Horwitz, Ph.D. – University of Michigan

    Co-author: Rohan Nanwani, BS – University of Michigan

    Co-author: Elizabeth Mills, PhD – University of Michigan

    Co-author: Srijan Sen, MD, PhD – University of Michigan

    Co-author: Amy Bohnert, PhD – University of Michigan