Live with bipolar disorder?

COMING SOON: Gain exclusive access to the new PolarUs App in English, French, Mandarin, and Spanish by joining our study! 📱

Our team at CREST.BD have developed PolarUs, a mobile app designed to support quality of life in people living with bipolar disorder.

In the coming weeks, we are launching a randomized controlled trial to evaluate whether using PolarUs can improve quality of life and mood. We also want to better understand how people with bipolar disorder use and engage with the app. Your participation could help us design more effective apps for bipolar disorder:

SIGN UP TO BE NOTIFIED

The first quality of life focused app for bipolar disorder

Co-created by researchers, people with lived experience of bipolar disorder and healthcare providers, PolarUs brings together more than 10 years of CREST.BD research into bipolar disorder, quality of life and self-management. The app includes:

• A quality of life assessment system
• Evidence-informed self-management strategies and resources
• Tools for monitoring mood, sleep and your quality-of-life goals

PolarUs is also first app for bipolar disorder to undergo cultural and linguistic adaptation for use in French, Chinese (Mandarin), and Spanish.

The app contains no advertisements or in-app purchases, and is not used to generate revenue.

PolarUs has also received the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) badge after being assessed under Canada’s first Assessment Framework for Mental Health Apps.

Who can participate?

You may be eligible if you:

• Are 18 years of age or older
• Live in the United States or Canada 🇺🇸🇨🇦
• Have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder
• Have not used the PolarUs app before
• Regularly use a smartphone running iOS 13, Android 10 or a later operating system
• Are able to speak, read, and write in English, or be bilingual in English and one of French, Chinese (Mandarin), or Spanish

People who are currently experiencing psychosis or active suicidal ideation will not be eligible to join this study. 

What does your participation involve?

The study takes place over 12 weeks and requires approximately five to six hours in total.

Participation includes:

• A brief eligibility screening questionnaire
• A 10-minute intake and demographics questionnaire
• A one-hour eligibility assessment interview with a member of our research team over Zoom
• Brief monthly quality of life questionnaires
• Daily mood and sleep check-ins taking less than one minute
• Four online questionnaire sessions, each taking approximately 40 minutes

During the eligibility interview, we will ask about your current and previous experiences with mental health symptoms and substance use.

If you are found eligible to participate based on the eligibility assessment interview, you will be randomly assigned (like rolling dice or flipping a coin) to one of two groups:

1. You will receive access to PolarUs immediately; or
2. You will complete assessments for 12 weeks before receiving access to PolarUs.

You can use the English, French, Chinese or Spanish version of the app based on your preference.

In recognition of your time and effort, participants may choose to receive Amazon gift cards as compensation.

SIGN UP TO BE NOTIFIED

Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or would like any further information about this study, please contact our research team at crest.bd@ubc.ca. 

This study is led by Dr. Erin Michalak in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Study title: Evaluating the efficacy of the PolarUs app on quality of life outcomes in people with bipolar disorder

UBC Research Ethics Board ID: H26-01866