Self-Management and Recovery Technology Psychosocial Intervention Trial
Condition: Schizophrenia; Affective Disorders, Psychotic; Psychotic Disorders
MeSH terms: Schizophrenia; Mental Disorders; Psychotic Disorders; Mood Disorders; Affective Disorders, Psychotic
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This project is a component of a broader research program referred to as "Self-Management and
      Recovery Technology (SMART): Use of online technology to promote self-management and recovery
      in people with psychosis", which has been funded by the Victorian Department of Health Mental
      Illness Research Fund (MIRF33). The overall research program is examining the therapeutic
      potential of using online (Internet-based) educational and multimedia resources in mental
      health services. It involves the development of a website which can be accessed via an
      internet browser on a desktop computer, tablet computer, or smartphone. It consists of a
      series of educational modules containing textual information, exercises, audio, and video
      clips designed to promote self-management and recovery in people with a history of persisting
      mental illness.

      This particular project (SMART-Therapy) involves a randomised controlled trial examining the
      use of a discrete 8-session psychosocial intervention delivered in addition to routine care
      which utilises these online materials. The intervention will involve a mental health worker
      meeting with the participant with a tablet computer (e.g. iPad) on which online materials can
      be viewed, and used to guide an interaction with the participant.

      The randomised controlled trial will include 148 participants, who will be randomised to
      receive one of two interventions: (a) meeting with a support worker using the SMART website
      to guide interaction (health intervention), or (b) meeting with a support worker delivering a
      social interaction-based control condition (social intervention). In each condition, there
      will be 8 x 50min face-to-face sessions over 3 months. Assessments will be completed
      pre-randomisation, and at 3, 6 and 9 months.

      The primary hypothesis is that participants randomised to the health intervention will show
      greater improvement in personal recovery than participants randomised to the social
      intervention, and that these improvements will be maintained at follow-up (6 and 9 months
      following intake).
    


Intervention name(s): Health intervention; Social intervention
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Participants will receive 8 50-minute sessions during a 3 month window with a mental health worker, in addition to their routine care. Sessions will be structured by the worker and participant using a tablet computer to view materials on mental health self-management and personal recovery on a dedicated website for the trial. These will include information, videos, audio and exercises. Online materials make particular use of videos featuring people with lived experience of psychosis discussing how they have dealt with issues in their recovery, and will allow users to post comments on videos and in a forum. Participants may access online materials both during intervention sessions and outside sessions using any Internet-enabled device.; Participants will receive 8 50-minute sessions during a 3 month window with a mental health worker in addition to routine care (treatment as usual). The social intervention will utilise a computer tablet (i.e., iPad) servicing online resources to extend a manualised befriending intervention, based upon social interaction, designed to control for therapist contact and computer use. Each session will involve interaction about non-health related topics of interest to the participants, which will be facilitated by use of viewing online material related to these interests on a tablet computer as a prompt to conversation.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Psychosis; Schizophrenia; Self-management; Recovery; Tablet computer; Digital health; Internet; Online; Peer support