Evaluation of a Digital Pre-therapy Patient Education Program (StartHjelp) in Outpatient Mental Health Care

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Digital pre-therapy patient education program (StartHjelp): After randomization the intervention group receives access to a pre-therapy informational app, presenting information about the treatment process, options, patient rights, user organizations, and self-help while on waiting list before mental health outpatient treatment. The information is presented stepwise through video and text, while also providing links to additional information if needed. The videos are made available to the patients gradually, with more general information about the treatment process first, and more specific information as the first session approaches. The patient has the opportunity to rewatch the videos as they please.

Comparator intervention: After randomization, while on waiting list, the control group gets sent all the same information as the intervention group in written form, by mail.

Study summary

Community mental health centers (CMHCs) face significant challenges in meeting the needs of individuals with mental health issues. For example, due to high demand, there are long waiting lists and low engagement rates. Innovative interventions are urgently needed to address these challenges to improve patient engagement, coping skills, and overall health outcomes. Educational and self-management interventions have shown promise in enhancing patient activation and treatment satisfaction in other contexts. They may therefore be potential solutions to reduce the identified challenges in the mental health service. To bridge these knowledge and practice gaps, this study aims to evaluate a digital pre-therapy patient education program tailored specifically for adults with mental disorders. This intervention aims to enhance treatment satisfaction, patient activation, knowledge, patient engagement, and overall mental health outcomes.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Patient satisfaction — measured on T2 (after intervention; up to 8 weeks), T3 (12 months follow up; up to 60 weeks)
  Patient satisfaction with the client satisfaction questionnaire (CSQ). The CSQ prompts the patient to evaluate different aspects of the care received with an 4 point ordinal scale (very dissatisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, somewhat satisfied, very satisfied).
• Patient activation — measured on T0 (baseline; at 0 weeks), T1 (after randomization, before intervention; up to 2 weeks), T2 (after intervention; up to 8 weeks), T3 (12 months follow up; up to 60 weeks)
  Patient activation measure 13 will be used. This questionaire measures patient activation by asking about knowledge, skills, and ability to manage one's own health, and health care usage. It consists of 13 items which is answered on an 4 point ordinal scale (Strongly disagree, somewhat disagree, somewhat agree, and strongly agree. Respondents have the option to answer "not applicable to me" as well.
• Knowledge and treatment preferences — measured on T1 (after randomization, before intervention; up to 2 weeks), T2 (after intervention; up to 8 weeks)
  Knowledge will be measured by five questions. All questions are introduced by "how much knowledge do you have about" (how outpatient clinics work; what happens in therapy; self management and user participation; patient rights; treatment options available to you). These questions are answered on a six-point ordinal scale ranging from "Nothing" to "Very much". After these 5 questions a follow up question "do you know what type of treatment you want?", answered either "yes", "no", or "don't know", is asked. If the answer is "yes" the patient is prompted to write what it is that they want.

Trial sites (1)

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