Mindfulness-based Illness Management Program for Schizophrenia
Condition: Schizophrenia
MeSH terms: Schizophrenia
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Only a few intervention studies have also focused on changing patients' negative thoughts and
      feelings towards the illness and their relationship to the suffering caused by those
      thoughts, which is evidenced to empower psychosocial functioning and control of distressing
      thoughts in severe depression and psychotic disorders by using the Mindfulness-Based Stress
      Reduction program. This controlled trial is designed to test the effects of a
      mindfulness-based Illness management program (MBPP) for Chinese patients with schizophrenia
      on their symptom severity, illness insight and psychosocial functioning.
    

Detailed description: 
      Objectives: This study is to test the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based illness management
      program for Chinese outpatients with schizophrenia over a 24-month follow-up. The program is
      an integrated, insight-inducing educational program that addresses patients' awareness and
      knowledge of schizophrenia and skills of illness management.

      Methods: A two-phase, single-blind, multi-site randomized controlled trial will be conducted
      with 449 Chinese patients with schizophrenia in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. In the first
      phase, 107 participants will be randomly selected from the eligible patient lists of three
      outpatient clinics in Hong Kong only (i.e., 38 subjects from each clinic), and after baseline
      measurement, be assigned to either the mindfulness-based illness management program,
      conventional psycho-education group, or usual psychiatric care. For the second phase, the
      participants will be randomly selected from the eligible patient list in three study venues
      or countries (i.e., 114 subjects from each study site/ country) and after baseline
      measurement, be assigned similar to the first phase to one of the three study groups. The
      patients' mental and psychosocial functioning, insights into illness, and their
      re-hospitalization rates will be measured at recruitment and at one week, and 6, 12 and 24
      months after completing the interventions.

      Hypothesis: The patients in the mindfulness-based psycho-education program will report
      significantly greater improvements in their symptoms and re-hospitalization rates (primary
      outcomes) and other secondary outcomes (e.g., insight into illness and functioning) over the
      24-month follow-up, when compared with those in psycho-education group or usual care.

      Conclusions: The findings will provide evidence whether the mindfulness-based
      psycho-education program can better improve Chinese schizophrenia sufferers' psychosocial
      functioning and reduce their illness relapse.
    

Intervention name(s): Routine Care; Mindfulness-based program; Psychoeducation group
Intervention type(s): Other; Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Psychiatric outpatient care provided by the outpatient departments, e.g., medical consultation, brief education by psychiatric nurses and financial advices or referrals by social workers.; The program was based on the psychoeducation programs by Chien et al and Lehman et al, as well as the 8-session Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program by Kabat-Zinn(1990).; A 5-month patient psychoeducation group program (12 sessions) led by the research team will be provided.
Other intervention name(s): Routine Psychiatric Care; Mindfulness-based illness management program; Mindfulness-based care for schizophrenia program; Conventional psychoeducation group; Psychoeducation group intervention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: mindfulness-based program; Psychoeducation; schizophrenia; Chinese; outpatients