Effectiveness of mHealth Post-discharge Intervention for Patients With Severe Mental Illness

N/AEnrolling By InvitationNCT05703412

Butler Hospital180 enrolled

Overview

The overall aim of this program of research is to improve the continuity of care for patients with serious mental illness (SMI) by supporting a safer and more efficient bridge from hospital to outpatient care using a mobile device-delivered app called Transition-FOCUS (tFOCUS), which has previously been tested in community samples. The purpose of the proposed project is to establish the effectiveness of our empirically-supported, multi-component mHealth intervention.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

180

Conditions

Bipolar Disorder Major Depression Schizophrenia

Interventions

tFOCUS integrates evidence-based strategies for self-management of severe mental illness (SMI) into a comprehensive mobile assessment and treatment system that is grounded in theoretical SMI models. The application promotes self-management strategies aimed at improving medication adherence to manage biologically driven psychiatric symptoms, increase social support to reduce the negative impact of social withdrawal, improve sleep hygiene to reduce levels of fatigue, and promote strategies for coping with persistent symptoms. tFOCUS application strategies are linked to participants' specific assessment responses, allowing for a highly personalized self-management intervention experience

Check-InBEHAVIORAL

Check-in includes a discharge and safety plan (with medication instructions, crisis services, etc.), a timely follow-up appointment with a mental health provider, and phone check-ins by case managers immediately following post-discharge for care coordination purposes.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * psychiatric inpatient/partial hospitalization * diagnosis of schizophrenia-spectrum disorder or major mood disorder * planned ongoing mental health treatment post-discharge in the community * 18 years or older * ability to speak and read English Exclusion Criteria: * lack of smartphone * homelessness or housing instability that would prevent reliable follow-up * discharge to a long-term restricted living setting

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS)

The interviewer-rated Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale is a measure of psychiatric symptom severity. The total score (sum of items) will be used to assess overall severity with scores ranging from 18 to 126 and higher scores indicating greater severity.

Time frame: 24 weeks