AN online screening program to help new mums is now being used throughout Australia, with Grampians Health among the first providers to deliver the program.<\/p>\n
Titled iCOPE, the app was created by staff at the Centre of Perinatal Excellence or COPE and serves as a digital screening platform to gauge the mental health of perinatal and expectant mothers.<\/p>\n
Nicole Highett, founder and CEO of COPE, said the technology will \u201crevolutionise\u201d the screening process for new mums in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s jumping from pen and paper to digital. It allows women to be asked different additional questions depending on their answers so they\u2019re not getting irrelevant questions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t really able to look at good screening rates and outcomes before because they were physical copies, so now we can look across different regions to see how we can cater for that area.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s currently available in 13 languages and will soon be available in 25, so women who traditionally didn\u2019t get screened at all are now able to access that service alongside English-speaking women.\u201d<\/p>\n
Results from iCOPE screenings provide users with a tailored report as well as a relevant directory for health services in their area.<\/p>\n
The Federal Government-supported app is free to use for every public maternity hospital nationwide.<\/p>\n
iCOPE has been in use at Ballarat Base Hospital since July, and Grampians Health\u2019s regional director for hospitals – west Carolyn Robertson said it\u2019s already having a positive impact on patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s about 1800 babies across Grampians Health each year. For a long time, we\u2019ve done the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression score but this program takes that to a whole new level,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something women can do independently. It\u2019s not the midwife sitting there asking a whole ream of questions so I think that will give more accurate responses about how people are really feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s estimated more than 100,000 Australian parents are impacted by perinatal depression each year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AN online screening program to help new mums is now being used throughout Australia, with Grampians Health among the first providers to deliver the program. Titled iCOPE, the app was created by staff at the Centre of Perinatal Excellence or COPE and serves as a digital screening platform to gauge the mental health of perinatal […]<\/p>\n