Closing the Psychological Treatment Gap During the COVID-19 Pandemic With a Supportive Text Messaging Program: Protocol for Implementation and Evaluation

Vincent Israel Opoku Agyapong   ^{1, 2} , MD, PhD ;   Marianne Hrabok   ^{1, 3} , PhD ;   Wesley Vuong   ² , MPH ;   April Gusnowski   ² , BA ;   Reham Shalaby   ¹ , MD ;   Kelly Mrklas   ^{4, 5} , MSc ;   Daniel Li   ^{1, 2} , MD ;   Liana Urichuk   ^{1, 2} , PhD ;   Mark Snaterse   ² , BA ;   Shireen Surood   ² , PhD ;   Bo Cao   ¹ , PhD ;   Xin-Min Li   ¹ , MD, PhD ;   Russ Greiner   ⁶ , PhD ;   Andrew James Greenshaw   ^{1, 7} , PhD

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

² Addiction and Mental Health, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, AB, Canada

³ Department of Psychiatry, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

⁴ Strategic Clinical Networks, System Innovation and Programs, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, AB, Canada

⁵ Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

⁶ Department of Computing Science, Faculty of Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

⁷ APEC Digital Hub for Mental Health, Edmonton, AB, Canada