Lessons learned developing and deploying a provincial virtual mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of virtual health services, but limited information was available to health leaders about how these services were developed and implemented and what could be learned from these experiences. This article describes lessons learned from the co-design, development, and deployment of SaskWell, a 10-week text-based mental health and wellness service for residents of Saskatchewan. SaskWell was designed to connect users with digital mental health tools and resources and was co-designed with a Patient and Community Advisory Committee. Using an adapted RE-AIM implementation framework, four consecutive 10-week iterations of the service were deployed, with new features and improvements incorporated based on feedback from community advisors and users. More than 700 Saskatchewan residents enrolled in SaskWell. The article highlights lessons related to people, process and technology, and partnerships, emphasizing the importance of engaging service users, adapting services to the local context, providing accessible enrollment options, and collaborating with community and technology partners when implementing virtual health services.