Rapid Access to Perinatal Psychiatric Care in Depression (RAPPID): A Master’s Thesis

Depression is the leading cause of disability among women of reproductive age worldwide. Upwards of 1 in 5 women suffer from perinatal depression. This condition has deleterious effects on several birth outcomes, infant attachment, and children’s behavior/development. Maternal suicide causes 20% of postpartum deaths in depressed women. Although the vast majority of perinatal women are amenable to being screened for depression, screening alone does not improve treatment rates or patient outcomes. Obstetrics/Gynecology (Ob/Gyn) clinics need supports in place to adequately address depression in their patient populations. The primary goal of this thesis is to develop, refine, and pilot test a new low-cost and sustainable stepped care program for Ob/Gyn clinics that will improve perinatal women’s depression treatment rates and outcomes. We developed and beta tested the Rapid Access to Perinatal Psychiatric Care in Depression (RAPPID) Program, to create a comprehensive intervention that is proactive, multifaceted, and practical. RAPPID aims to improve perinatal depression treatment and treatment response rates through: (1) access to immediate resource provision/referrals and psychiatric telephone consultation for Ob/Gyn providers; (2) clinic-specific implementation of depression care, including training support and toolkits; and (3) proactive depression screening, assessment, and treatment in OB/Gyn clinics. RAPPID builds on a low-cost and widely disseminated population-based model for delivering psychiatric care in primary care settings. Formative data and feedback from key stakeholders also informed the development of RAPPID. Our formative and pilot work in real-world settings suggests RAPPID is feasible and has the potential to improve depression detection and treatment in Ob/Gyn settings. The next step will be to compare