New Woebot Health Study Highlights AI’s Ability to Address Equity and Accessibility Gaps in Mental Health Care
Suite of publications show Woebot helped reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, improved wellness outcomes, and had high engagement and satisfaction ratings regardless of initial symptom level, participation in mental health treatment, or residential status
SAN FRANCISCO – August 28, 2023 – Woebot Health today announced the results from a new study of Woebot for Adults (previously Woebot-LIFE), a digital mental health intervention that provides in-the-moment support to people experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression. The study, in which 256 adults received an 8-week intervention, was designed to assess changes in depression and anxiety symptoms, stress, resilience, burnout, levels of engagement and therapeutic working alliance, as well as access and barriers to care. Results were presented in a series of conferences and in four papers: in BMC Psychiatry; Internet Interventions; JMIR Formative Research; and JMIR.
“This study had an incredibly diverse group of participants across age, race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and education, and included people living in cities and in medically underserved and provider shortage areas,” said Athena Robinson, PhD, Chief Clinical Officer of Woebot Health. “It speaks to our technology’s ability to address well documented equity and accessibility gaps. In today’s environment of concern about the potential for bias in AI, that’s both needed and refreshing.”
Robinson added the study will periodically relaunch to collect new data and new insights as part of the company’s “Science in the Loop” approach to product development. “Woebot is built to be equitable by design, and we’re looking to make sure future developments that draw inspiration from real world experience and advancements in technology continue to help us realize our mission to make mental health radically accessible.”
Key study findings included:
- Participants with baseline clinical levels of depressive or anxiety symptoms experienced significant declines in self-reported symptoms. The diverse sample included participants who used Woebot independently as well as for those who used it as an adjunct to clinical care.
- A deeper look at a range of wellness outcomes including stress, burnout and resilience revealed significant reductions in perceived stress and burnout and significantly increased resilience among participants. The improvements in each wellness outcome were significant even among participants without clinically elevated depression or anxiety symptoms at baseline (Patient Health Questionnaire-8 item survey or Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 item survey of 10 or greater), highlighting Woebot’s potential to benefit a wide array of people.
- A sub-analysis of the study reported, for the first time, differences across rural, medically underserved and mental health provider shortage areas. Levels of compliance, working alliance, mental health outcomes and satisfaction among participants living in mental health provider shortage and medically underserved areas suggest that vulnerable residential populations in particular may benefit from using these types of mental health tools.
- Enactment, which measures the ability to apply learnings in daily life, and therapeutic alliance, a measure indicating participants felt supported by Woebot to accomplish their goals, appear to be more related to outcomes than the number of times people used Woebot. The study found a type of user labeled “Efficient Engagers” that had high enactment and therapeutic alliance but low behavioral engagement (e.g., messages exchanged, days of use). This user type actually had greater declines in depressive symptoms and stress as compared to other types of users.
Woebot for Adults is a non-prescription medical device under FDA enforcement discretion; it is not evaluated, cleared or approved by FDA. It is not intended to diagnose, monitor, treat or prevent any disease. It may be considered as an adjunct to clinical care, it does not replace clinical care.
About Woebot Health
Woebot Health is the mental health ally for people and businesses that is answering the skyrocketing need for mental health care by breaking down the systemic constraints that block equal access to it. Our relational agent, Woebot, is at the heart of an AI-powered platform that can tailor products for specific intended uses and patient populations. It’s also the foundation of our solutions, which are based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and include support tools for adults, adolescents and new mothers. We work directly with virtual primary care companies, payers and IDNs to put safe, scalable and validated mental health solutions directly in the hands of those who need them. For more information, visit woebothealth.com.
