iCOPE Digital Screening initiative to boost perinatal mental health

Article submitted by: The Centre of Perinatal Excellence (COPE)

When the Centre of Perinatal Excellence (COPE) was established in 2013, on the recommendation of the National Perinatal Depression Initiative Synopsis report, Founder and Executive Director Dr Nicole Highet recognised that an innovative solution for perinatal mental health screening was a key priority area for the new peak body.

At the time, screening for perinatal anxiety and depression around Australia was inconsistent, time consuming and only conducted via pen and paper.

“For example, less than four per cent of non-English-speaking women were offered screening, and manual approaches to screening and scoring screening resulted in up to 29 per cent error rates when using the recommended depression screening tool. Further, patients were often not provided with any feedback regarding their screening outcomes. There was a clear need to make screening more inclusive, accurate, measurable and sustainable.”

Coinciding with the rise of mobile and e-health technology, the iCOPE Digital Screening platform was born, providing an efficient and inclusive method of screening expectant and new mothers for perinatal anxiety and depression as well as known psychosocial risk factors.

The 2023 Australian Perinatal Mental Health Clinical Practice Guideline calls for universal screening for all expectant and new mothers. iCOPE integrates recommended screening tools, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Antenatal/Postnatal Risk Questionnaire (ANRQ/PNRQ). Family violence screening tools are also incorporated and can be administered in line with safety protocols and state and territory policies.

The Commonwealth has funded the roll-out of iCOPE to every maternal child and family health setting and public maternity hospital in Australia to June 2025. Now available in 26 languages, more than 150,000 digital screens have been conducted across Victoria alone, with screening recently commencing across Queensland and South Australia. Screening will commence in the Northern Territory by the end of the year.

iCOPE is perceived to be increasing access to screening, particularly amongst diverse population groups (including refugee women) and supporting disclosure. Clinicians are also being supported by saving time within the consultation, allowing more time for patient discussion, increasing their confidence interpreting results, and providing reassurance that patients are informed of their results (via the patient reports).

The iCOPE patient report includes access to the eCOPE Directory of local, specialist perinatal mental health support services.

Since COPE also collects data in real time (in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare), this provides accurate prevalence data whilst also informing service needs within and across services and jurisdictions around the country.

“As a world leader in innovative practice, iCOPE remains the only digital solution providing integrated clinical reports for professionals as well as instant reports for consumers in their own language,” Dr Highet said. “We will continue to advocate to make this available for all professionals and those in their care across the county and internationally.”

Learn more at: iCOPE Digital Screening