Testing an Adaptive Intervention for Peer-Supported Mobile Health for Primary Care Veterans with Psychological Distress

Background: Psychological distress in Veterans Affairs (VA) primary care patients is common and often not adequately treated. The VA has a suite of evidence-informed mobile health applications (mHealth apps) for psychological distress that are frequently downloaded, but most Veterans do not use them enough to experience health benefits. Support from helping professionals, such as peer specialists, can increase app use and health benefits. Our team found that peer-supported mHealth is feasible to deliver in VA primary care, increases app engagement and is associated with high satisfaction and improved Veteran health. However, not all individuals need the same amount of support when using mHealth. This study will test an adaptive intervention using a SMART design to match patient need with specific doses of peer support for mHealth. Significance: Our long-term goal is to improve the health of Veterans with psychological distress by developing a brief and efficient stepped-care intervention that can be feasibly implemented in VA primary care settings. This proposal is highly aligned with the priorities of our operational partners in the Offices of Mental Health and Patient Centered Care & Cultural Transformation and VA BBMH. The findings will support the VA- wide expansion of the Peers in PACT program, per recent STRONG Act legislation. Innovation & Impact: Key innovations include the use of a SMART design to develop an adaptive intervention for a high-priority patient population and the novel application of the Supportive Accountability model in which human support is critical to enhancing adherence to mHealth interventions. The proposal will also provide much needed data on the effectiveness of peers to deliver brief, structured interventions. Specific Aims: 1) Test the effectiveness of a) stage 1 (Peer mHealth vs. Self-Managed mHealth), b) stage 2 interventions (4 sessions of Peer mHealth vs. Peer Whole Health) among slow responders and c) the embedded stepped-care treatment sequences on psychological distress and secondary outcomes (e.g., app use, cost, mental health service use, symptoms, functioning) at 12 weeks. 2) Examine candidate tailoring variables as predictors of outcomes in a) stage 1 (i.e., motivation, coping self-efficacy) and b) stage 2 (i.e., app use and unmet social needs). Race/ethnicity and sex/gender will also be explored as moderators. 3) Assess barriers and facilitators to implementing adaptive interventions for peer mHealth in PACT by interviewing key VHA leadership, staff and Veteran stakeholders. Methodology: Participants (N=384) with significant psychological distress who are not engaged in specialty mental health care will be randomized at Stage 1 to receive either Self-Managed mHealth or one peer phone call to support mHealth. Participant response, defined as a reliable decrease in psychological distress (5-point decrease in any DASS-21 subscale) will be measured after 4 weeks. Stage 2 randomization will assign slow responders to step-up to additional mHealth peer phone calls or an alternative peer support model (peer- delivered Whole Health). Stage 1 early responders will continue/ step-down to Self-Managed mHealth. All participants will be reassessed at 12, 16 and 24 weeks post-enrollment. Psychological distress is the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes include app use, mental health service use, cost, psychological symptoms (e.g., depression, anxiety, stress, PTSD, anger, sleep), and functioning (e.g., social functioning). Next Steps/ Implementation: Should our results support the effectiveness of the adaptive intervention, we will disseminate peer training through the Peers in PACT and Tech into Care VA networks. We will also prepare a new ORD application to systemically investigate how the adaptive intervention can be implemented in VA. Project Number: 1I01RD000522-01A2 | Fiscal Year: 2026 | NIH Institute/Center: Veterans Affairs (VA) | Principal Investigator: Kyle Possemato (+1 co-PI) | Institution: SYRACUSE VA MEDICAL CENTER, SYRACUSE, NY | Activity Code: I01 | Study Section: HSR-4 Mental and Behavioral Health[HSR4] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11242343