Mobile Health (mHealth) Versus Clinic-Based Group Intervention for People With Serious Mental Illness: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: mHealth approaches that use mobile phones to deliver interventions can help improve access to care for people with serious mental illness. The goal was to evaluate how mHealth performs against more traditional treatment.

Methods: A three-month randomized controlled trial was conducted of a smartphone-delivered intervention (FOCUS) versus a clinic-based group intervention (Wellness Recovery Action Plan [WRAP]). Participants were 163 clients, mostly from racial minority groups and with long-term, serious mental illness (schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, 49%; bipolar disorder, 28%; and major depressive disorder, 23%). Outcomes were engagement throughout the intervention; satisfaction posttreatment (three months); and improvement in clinical symptoms, recovery, and quality of life (assessed at baseline, posttreatment, and six months).

Results: Participants assigned to FOCUS were more likely than those assigned to WRAP to commence treatment (90% versus 58%) and remain fully engaged in eight weeks of care (56% versus 40%). Satisfaction ratings were comparably high for both interventions. Participants in both groups improved significantly and did not differ in clinical outcomes, including general psychopathology and depression. Significant improvements in recovery were seen for the WRAP group posttreatment, and significant improvements in recovery and quality of life were seen for the FOCUS group at six months.

Conclusions: Both interventions produced significant gains among clients with serious and persistent mental illnesses who were mostly from racial minority groups. The mHealth intervention showed superior patient engagement and produced patient satisfaction and clinical and recovery outcomes that were comparable to those from a widely used clinic-based group intervention for illness management.