A Digital Therapeutic to Advance the Delivery of Effective Interventions for Suicide Prevention

ABSTRACT Suicide is a top ten cause of death in the US and rates of suicide have increased steadily for the last twenty years. Despite this, there is a paucity of research on treatment programs designed to reduce suicide attempts and none that include a digital therapeutic. In this Phase I SBIR application Oui Therapeutics, LLC proposes a project to: 1) create a beta version of the Oui app (called “Aviva”), a CBT-based digital therapeutic to reduce the risk of suicide across diagnoses; and 2) to test the usability and feasibility of the Beta version of Aviva in a single-group, open-label trial. The digital therapeutic being studied is built on face-to-face CBT treatment protocols proven to be effective in clinical trials. Successful execution of the goals of this Phase I project will generate a version of Aviva that is ready to be tested for efficacy with stabilized patients in a clinical trial. In the long term, this project will have a beneficial impact on the field of suicide prevention through the development of mobile technology designed to advance the delivery and dissemination of effective interventions.PROJECT NARRATIVE This project will enable Oui Therapeutics, LLC to test and further develop mobile technology the Oui app (i.e. “Aviva”) designed to advance the delivery and dissemination of effective interventions for suicide prevention. The project will include beta version app development, and a feasibility study of Aviva. Successful outcomes of this Phase I application will include a production version digital therapeutic that is ready for efficacy testing in a randomized controlled trial with stabilized patients who have attempted suicide.