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The University of Michigan Depression Center Toolkit is an online resource developed by the Depression Center that provides information, tools, and support to guide patients through their mental health journey. The Toolkit is not only for those who have been diagnosed with depression or other mood disorders; it includes resources for anyone who wants to maintain their mental health, those who want to support their family and friends, and people who want to be mental health advocates. The website reaches thousands of people each year from over 200 countries around the world.

The Toolkit was originally funded by the Friends of the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers. The initial goal of the Toolkit was to provide physical copies of materials throughout the U-M hospitals, health centers, and clinics. However, it was soon changed to an online compendium of resources. It became a way for patients to get credible online health information, as well as tools they can print out at home.

Readers can use the toolkit find resources to help prepare for medical appointments; download goal-setting worksheets and self-assessment tools; find journaling tools and information about participating in various research studies; and more.

The Toolkit also includes a virtual Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), which is a 9-item self-assessment instrument for screening, monitoring, and measuring depression severity. While a clinician needs to verify responses to make a definitive diagnosis, scores range from 0-27 and tell users where they fall on depression severity scale. Users are then offered recommendations for how to use the Toolkit based on their score to improve or maintain mental health. The PHQ-9 is confidential, but gives users the option to print or email results and share them with a health care provider.

“Research shows that patients who use educational resources are much more likely to follow physician instructions, adhere to medication regimens, and make necessary lifestyle changes,” said Sagar Parikh, MD, FRCPC, the John F. Greden Professor of Depression and Clinical Neuroscience and associate director of the U-M Depression Center.

The Toolkit website has recently undergone substantial revisions to help make it more user-friendly, maintain the validity of recommendations and incorporate new insights in the field, and improve understandability. A group of 30+ mental health experts and 50+ patient and family advisors provided feedback throughout the development process.

“We followed the Federal Plain Language Guidelines,” explained Danielle Taubman, MPH, project co-lead on the Depression Center Toolkit. “Information is framed in questions and we don’t use medical jargon. This helps improve understanding of the resources, regardless of someone’s health literacy skills.”

In fall 2018, the Depression Center Toolkit won a Digital Health Award. Visit the Toolkit here.