Children's Hospital of Los Angeles has partnered with digital therapeutics company Limbix to study the impact of digital-based cognitive behavioral therapy for patients aged 13 to 22 years old.
The health system will study the use of SparkRx, an evidence-based program sent to individuals via smartphones, that can help treat symptoms of depression in specialty medical care settings, according to a Sept. 6 press release.
Specifically, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles will evaluate how SparkRx performs in adolescent patients being treated in its cardiology and gastroenterology programs that have elevated depressive symptoms.
"We're excited about this opportunity to offer our patients a new resource for adolescent depression via a digital therapeutic that could help minimize barriers and increase access to mental health treatment," said Heather Bemis, Ph.D, licensed clinical psychologist at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and principal investigator of the study.
The aim of the study is to understand if the study participants find SparkRx to be a convenient treatment option, if it can reduce the symptoms of depression in adolescents with chronic medical conditions and to collect feedback on the participants' experience using SparkRx.