The IntelliCare Platform

IntelliCare is a suite of apps, developed by Northwestern University's Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, that work together to help people deal with common causes of stress, depression, and anxiety.

Where to find IntelliCare

The apps are freely available on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The IntelliCare Platform is now being offered through Adaptive Health, a startup out of Northwestern University. You can find more information about IntelliCare on the Adaptive Health website.

If you download the IntelliCare Hub app first, it will help you track your well-being and make recommendations for which apps may be the best fit for you. You can also just download the individual apps, which help you practice skills to improve your mood and well-being.

The Research

IntelliCare has proven effective at reducing depression and anxiety in three trials.

The first trial showed that people using IntelliCare for 8 weeks, supported by brief coaching via text messaging, experienced significant reductions in symptoms of depression and anxiety. These changes matched the amount of improvement that can happen with psychotherapy or medications.

The second trial showed similar benefits for depression and anxiety, and these improvements remained when we followed up after 6 months. Furthermore, we saw that while people did better when they had coaching by text messaging, many people also did well using IntelliCare on their own.

The third trial showed that people under the care of a primary care physician had significantly greater reductions in depression and anxiety when they used IntelliCare for 8 weeks (reference forthcoming).

The IntelliCare Platform is currently being implemented in a system-wide rollout in Rush University Medical Center's Collaborative Care Service as well as at the University of Illinois Chicago and Northern Illinois University.