Development and Feasibility Testing of a Smartphone Intervention to Improve Adherence to Antipsychotic Medications.

Approximately 60% of individuals with schizophrenia do not take their antipsychotic medications as prescribed, and nonadherence is associated with exacerbation of psychotic symptoms, increased hospital and emergency room use, and increased healthcare costs. Behavioral-tailoring strategies that incorporate medication taking into the daily routine and use environmental supports have shown promise as adherence-enhancing interventions. Informed by the Information-Motivation-Behavioral (IMB) Skills Model and using the iterative process of user-centered design, we collaborated with individuals with schizophrenia and psychiatrists to develop an interactive smartphone application and web-based clinician interface, MedActive, for improving adherence to oral antipsychotic treatment. MedActive facilitates the active involvement of individuals with schizophrenia in managing their antipsychotic medication regimen by providing automated reminders for medication administration and tailored motivational feedback to encourage adherence, and by displaying user-friendly results of daily ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) of medication adherence, positive psychotic symptoms, and medication side effects for individuals and their psychiatrists. In a 2-week open trial completed by 7 individuals with schizophrenia and their psychiatrists, MedActive was determined to be both feasible and acceptable, with patient participants responding to 80% of all scheduled EMAs and providing positive evaluations of their use of the application. Psychiatrist participants were interested in viewing the information provided on the MedActive clinician interface, but cited practical barriers to regularly accessing it and integrating into their daily practice.

A review of behavioral tailoring strategies for improving medication adherence in serious mental illness.

Nonadherence to psychopharmacological treatments poses a significant challenge to treatment success in individuals with serious mental illness, with upwards of 60% of people not taking their psychiatric medications as prescribed. Nonadherence is associated with adverse outcomes, including exacerbation of psychiatric symptoms, impaired functioning, increased hospitalizations and emergency room use, and increased health care costs. Whereas interventions using psychoeducation or cognitive approaches, such as motivational interviewing, have largely proven ineffective in improving adherence, approaches employing behavioral tailoring that incorporate medication taking into the daily routine and/or use environmental supports have shown promise. Recently, adherence-enhancing behavioral tailoring interventions that utilize novel technologies, such as electronic monitors and mobile phones, have been developed. Although interventions utilizing these platforms have the potential for widespread dissemination to a broad range of individuals, most require further empirical testing. This paper reviews selected behavioral tailoring strategies that aim to improve medication adherence and other functional outcomes among individuals with serious mental illness.

La falta de adherencia a los tratamientos psicofarmacológicos constituye un desafío significativo para el éxito terapéutico de sujetos con enfermedad mental grave, dado que hay más del 60% de personas que no toma sus medicamentos psiquiátricos como son prescritos. La falta de adherencia está asociada con resultados adversos, incluyendo la exacerbación de los síntomas psiquiátricos, el deterioro funcional, el aumento de las hospitalizaciones y de la consulta en servicios de urgencia, como el aumento de los costos de salud. Mientras que las intervenciones que utilizan aproximaciones de psicoeducación o cognitivas, tales como la entrevista motivacional, han demostrado ampliamente la ineficacia para mejorar la adherencia, las aproximaciones que emplean ajustes conductuales incorporando la ingesta de medicamentos dentro de la rutina diaria ylo el empleo de soportes ambientales han mostrado ser prometedoras. Recientemente se han desarrollado intervenciones conductuales que refuerzan la adherencia mediante el empleo de nuevas tecnologías como son los monitores electrónicos y los teléfonos móviles. Aunque las intervenciones que utilizan estas plataformas tienen el potencial de una amplia diseminación a una gran cantidad de individuos, la mayoría require de más pruebas empíricas. Este artículo revisa estrategias conductuales que tienen como objetivo mejorar la adherencia a la medicación y otros resultados funcionales entre individuos con enfermedad mental grave.

La non-observance des traitements psychopharmacologiques pose un problème important pour la réussite du traitement chez les personnes atteintes de maladie mentale grave, plus de 60 % des individus ne prenant pas les médicaments psychotropes tels qu'ils leur ont été présents. La non-observance est associée à des événements indésirables, y compris l'exacerbation des symptômes psychiatriques, la détérioration fonctionnelle, l'augmentation des hospitalisations et des passages aux urgences et l'augmentation des coûts des soins de santé. Les procédures utilisant des approches cognitives ou psychoéducatives, comme l'entretien motivationnel, se sont montrées largement inefficaces pour améliorer l'observance. Au contraire, les stratégies d'adaptation comportementale qui intègrent la prise de médicaments aux activités quotidiennes et/ou l'utilisation de différents supports facilitant l'observance, sont prometteuses. Récemment, des stratégies d'adaptation comportementale favorisant l'observance qui utilisent les nouvelles technologies, comme les moniteurs électroniques et les téléphones mobiles, se sont développées. Les procédures utilisant ces plateformes pourraient être diffusées de façon généralisée à un large éventail d'individus, mais la plupart d'entre elles ont besoin d'une vérification empirique complémentaire. Cet article analyse quelques stratégies d'adaptation comportementale dont le but est d'améliorer l'observance médicamenteuse et d'autres résultats fonctionnels chez les individus atteints de maladie mentale grave.

Access to and Use of the Internet by Veterans with Serious Mental Illness.

This study evaluated internet use among 239 veterans with serious mental illness who completed questionnaires assessing demographics and internet use in 2010-2011. The majority of individuals (70 %) reported having accessed the internet and among those, 79 % had accessed it within the previous 30 days. Those who were younger and more educated were more likely to have accessed the internet, as were those with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, or major depressive disorder, compared to individuals with PTSD. Veterans with serious mental illness commonly use the internet, including to obtain health information, though use varies across demographic characteristics and clinical diagnosis.