The Digital Navigator: Standardizing Human Technology Support in App-Integrated Clinical Care

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Mental Healthcare Delivery
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Clinical adoption of mental health apps is limited by user engagement and workflow integration issues.
• Digital navigators, trained in mental health technology, can bridge this gap by supporting patients and clinicians.
• Challenges include effective training and impact assessment for digital navigators.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a framework for implementing digital navigators in a cognitive-behavioral therapy-focused hybrid clinic.
• To analyze patient engagement, satisfaction, and digital phenotyping data quality.
• To assess the impact of digital navigators on these outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A manual for digital navigator implementation was developed and applied.
• Data from 83 patients (Sept 2022-Sept 2023) included digital navigator satisfaction, app satisfaction, engagement, and passive data quality.
• Passive data missingness was assessed for 33 patients (Nov 2023-Jan 2024).

Main Results:

• Digital navigator satisfaction averaged 18.8/20 and was not influenced by demographics.
• Average passive data quality was 0.82.
• Digital navigator satisfaction positively correlated with app engagement and perception.

Conclusions:

• The digital navigator role shows preliminary patient endorsement and positive effects on digital engagement and data quality.
• Standardizing training and the role can facilitate broader adoption by clinicians and researchers.
• This role offers a scalable solution to enhance mental healthcare through technology.