Many individuals with SCI experience significant mental health challenges, including depression, anxiety disorders, and post‑traumatic stress disorder. One of the strongest predictors of depression in this population is loneliness—a sense of social isolation that can deepen over time and undermine overall well‑being.
An app designed to detect loneliness in people with spinal cord injuries and identify factors that predict future isolation is being developed by Alex Wong, PhD, DPhil, assistant director of the Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research (CROR) at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. The project is supported by a $350,000 grant from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation.
Beginning this month, study participants will use Wong’s app for two weeks and complete brief surveys about their mood, health, environment, and social life. Their responses will generate a personalized social health profile and a score on a validated loneliness scale. When answers reach certain thresholds, the app will automatically send a supportive message developed with input from former SCI patients, clinicians, and researchers and grounded in principles from behavioral activation, cognitive behavioral therapy, or positive psychology.
After receiving a message, users will be asked whether it reduced their feelings of isolation. “At the end of this, the model should be able to tell us which theory works the best with which group,” Wong says.
“I want to answer the question: among all these variables, which small set can predict future perceived social isolation?” Wong says. “If we can pinpoint who is at risk, we can send a caring message before those feelings take hold.”
For more information on the project: https://www.sralab.org/research/labs/cror/news/new-cror-project-aims-address-loneliness-people-spinal-cord-injuries
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