Skip to main content

NIMH ALACRITY Center

The NIMH ALACRITY Center at Northwestern University, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, addresses research-to-practice problems in digital mental health through a multi-level research strategy.

About Us

While randomized controlled trials consistently show that web-based and mobile applications are effective at treating depression when coupled with support from a care coordinator, implementation in real-world healthcare settings often fails.

Our NIMH ALACRITY Center addresses the research-to-practice problem. We design and evaluate technology enabled services (TESs) for depression in three unique clinical settings that commonly manage depression. Each project integrates clinical psychology, human-computer interaction and implementation science across the design and evaluation phases. 

You can find additional details on our National Institutes of Health project page.

For questions, please contact us at 312-503-6585 or cbits@northwestern.edu.

Our Projects

  • Primary Care
    This project will design and evaluate a TES to support the treatment of depression in a primary care/family medicine setting at Rush University Medical Center.
  • Perinatal Depression
    This project will design and evaluate a TES within the collaborative care program for perinatal depression at Northwestern Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
  • Homebound Older Adults
    This project will design and evaluate a voice-controlled TES personal assistant for homebound older adults with depression. This project is conducted in collaboration with Outpatient Geriatrics and Home-Based Medicine Practices at Northwestern Medicine. 
  • Research Methods
    Our ACTS research framework, aims to overcome the research-to-practice gap by integrating human-computer interaction methods, incorporate the voice of end users into the design and evaluation of the technologies. This ensures that the end product is usable, useful and implementable. 

Learn more about these projects and others on CBITs' current projects page.

Work With Us

Request a Consultation

Contact us to learn about our consultation services and find out how to request our help.
Contact Us

Attend a Webinar

We host a monthly CBITs Digital Mental Health Webinar featuring talks on or related to digital mental health from leaders across a wide range of specialties.
See Upcoming Webinars

Follow CBITS on Instagram Bluesky