Psychosocial Interventions for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders: A Program Evaluation

Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders can have lasting negative impacts on maternal and child health. The aim of the quality improvement project was to determine if home-based psychosocial interventions for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders using volunteers affect patient outcomes and expand evidence-based treatment options.

We used a logic model to outline the program's key inputs and outputs, and to guide ongoing implementation; outline what did or did not occur as intended in the volunteer program; clarify for organization stakeholders how program activities bring about desired changes or outputs; and to determine if the program brings about desired outcomes in relation to perinatal mental health. The major outcomes of interest were pre and post measures of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders symptoms, stress, and level of reported support in the parents.

Data were obtained from two subsamples, 152 parents prior to receiving the intervention and from 36 parents after receiving the intervention. Before receiving the services, 33.0% of the parents endorsed clinically significant symptoms of anxiety and depression. At the end of the intervention, 66.7% of parents reported experiencing symptoms of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, and 75.0% of those experiencing symptoms agreed the support from the program helped alleviate those symptoms.

Our results highlight the program as an effective and accessible option to mitigate perinatal mood and anxiety disorders in the community. There is need for more effective, evidence-based interventions in the community setting.