Empowerment in mental health care using e-health in a redesigned intake process

This study is designed to investigate the effectiveness of a redesigned intake process in specialised mental health care using e-health in a two-arm cluster randomised controlled trial.

The study hypothesizes that this new way of working is positively related to: 1) a higher level of autonomous motivation and an more active role of patients in their mental health treatment, 2) greater equivalence in and quality of the working relationship between patient and clinician, 3) a higher level of the application of shared decision making and treatment adherence, and 4) better clinical outcomes.

The aim of this study is to examine whether the implementation of a redesigned intake process using e-health is effective compared to the intake as usual without an e-health intervention.
The first hypothesis is that using e-health in a new intake method will lead to a higher degree of autonomous motivation of patients for psychiatric treatment and which may in turn lead to a beneficial shift in the empowerment of patients to play an active role in their own mental health and treatment.
Second hypothesis is that motivated and active involved patients have a more equivalent interplay with their clinician. Due to the empowerment of patients and equivalence in the working relationship between patients and clinicians the application of Shared Decision Making may be encouraged.
Third it is hypothesized that improvement in motivation, active involvement and an equivalent working relationship is positively related to patient’s adherence to treatment and improved clinical outcome.

Datacollection: September 2016-March 2017
Reporting of the results is expected from September 2017.

The intake-teams randomised to the intervention group implement e-health interventions in a redesigned intake process.

To implement this new way of working, the clinicians of the intervention teams follow a training aiming to gain insight, knowledge and skills in the application of recovery supported care, shared decision making and e-health with the purpose to motivate and empower patients in gaining an active role in their recovery and stimulating an equivalent interplay between patients and clinicians.