Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic is negatively impacting the mental health of COVID-19 patients and family members. Given the restrictions limiting in person contact to reduce the spread of the virus, a digital approach is needed to tackle the psychological aftermath of the pandemic. We present the development of a brief remote psychotherapy program for COVID-19 patients and/or their relatives.Methods: We first reviewed the literature on psychotherapeutic interventions for COVID-19 related symptoms. Based on this evidence, we leveraged ongoing clinical experiences with COVID-19 survivors and family members to design an intervention model that could be disseminated and integrated into the workflow of the mental health system.Results: This 8-session model –inspired by constructivist and hermeneutic-phenomenological therapies– serves COVID-19 patients during hospitalization, remission and recovery. This model can also be delivered to people dealing with the COVID-19 hospitalization/discharge of a family member, or the loss of a family member due to COVID-19.Conclusion: We described a remote psychotherapeutic approach to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic psychological aftermath. To date, the approach seems feasible and highly customizable to patients’ needs. Studies are underway to test its preliminary efficacy. Once proven efficacious, this treatment model could provide a blueprint for future tele-psychology wide-scale interventions.

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Background The COVID-19 pandemic is negatively impacting the mental health of both patients with COVID-19 and the general population. As current guidelines are limiting in-person contacts to reduce the spread of the virus, the development of a digital approach to implement in psychiatric and psychological consultations is needed. In this paper, we present the DigiCOVID protocol, a digital approach to offer remote, personalized psychological and psychiatric support to former or current patients with COVID-19 and their relatives. Objective The main goal of this project is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and usability of the DigiCOVID protocol. Furthermore, we also aim to assess the impact of the abovementioned protocol by means of pre-post changes in psychological clinical variables. Methods Participants undergo an initial telephonic screening to ensure inclusion criteria are met. Secondly, participants complete a video-assisted neuropsychological IQ test as well as web-based self-reports of health and general well-being. Participants are then assigned to a psychotherapist who offers 8 teletherapy sessions. At the end of the therapy cycle, the web-based questionnaires are administered for a posttreatment evaluation. Results As of April 2022, we enrolled a total of 122 participants, of which 94 have completed neuropsychological tests and web-based questionnaires. Conclusions Our study aims at testing the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of DigiCOVID, a remote telemedicine protocol for the improvement of psychological and psychiatric health in patients with COVID-19 and their relatives. To date, the approach used seems to be feasible and highly customizable to patients’ needs, and therefore, the DigiCOVID protocol might pave the way for future telepsychiatry-based interventions. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05231018; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05231018?term=NCT05231018 &draw=2&rank=1 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/39080

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic is negatively impacting the mental health of both COVID-19 patients and the general population. Given the current guidelines limiting in person contact to reduce the spread of the virus, a digital approach is needed to tackle the psychological aftermath of the pandemic. Here, we present DigiCOVID, a digital mental health approach to offer remote, personalized support to former or current COVID-19 patients and/or their relatives. OBJECTIVE The main goal of this project is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and usability of DigiCOVID. Furthermore, as we have designed DigiCOVID in order to improve mental wellbeing, we also aim to assess the impact of the abovementioned intervention by means of pre-post changes in psychological clinical variables. METHODS Participants undergo an initial phone-based screening to ensure inclusion criteria are met. Then, they complete a neuropsychological test over video to assess IQ, and fill out online self-reports of health and wellbeing. Participants are then assigned to psychotherapist who offers 8 tele-therapy sessions. At the end of the therapy cycle, the online questionnaires are filled out again. RESULTS As of April 2022, we enrolled a total of 122 subjects, of which 94 have completed neuropsychological tests and online questionnaires. CONCLUSIONS Our study aims at testing the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of DigiCOVID, a remote tele-psychiatry approach to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic psychological aftermaths. To date, the approach used seems to be feasible and highly customizable to patients’ needs, and thus DigiCOVID could provide a blueprint for future tele-psychiatry-based interventions. CLINICALTRIAL This study was approved by our local Ethics Committee (IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico) on 28.10.2020. The trial is registered on clinicaltrials.gov with the following ID: NCT05231018.