Online mental healthcare provider Meru Health was granted $2 million by the National Institute of Mental Health to study the benefits of digital mental health programs.
Meru will use the funding to follow 300 primary care patients currently experiencing symptoms of major depression from April 2022 to March 2025 to monitor the success of its 12-week mental health mobile app program.
The Meru Health app's program is overseen by licensed clinical therapists and psychiatrists who are accessible via the app itself, allowing patients to access the app from their own home discreetly, according to a May 10 press release from the organization.
Nicholas Peiper, PhD, principal investigator and Meru Health's director of research, said, "The importance of this study is enormous. ...Conducting this study in primary care is also a big step because the majority of people experiencing depression initially seek care with their primary care provider."