On the HORYZON: Moderated online social therapy for long-term recovery in first episode psychosis

Online, social media and mobile technologies for psychosis treatment: A systematic review on novel user-led interventions

“…It used video tutorials, interactive games and quizzes to enhance engagement and an anonymous social feed or forum Delivery: Sessions took place in offices at the mental health centers integrated web-based therapy, social networking and peer and expert moderation (Alvarez-Jimenez et al, 2013); web-based CBT (Gottlieb et al, 2013); personalized advice based on routine clinical monitoring (van der Krieke et al, 2012), and mobile-based interventions (Spaniel et al, 2008a;Granholm et al, 2012;Spaniel et al, 2012). Six interventions were evaluated in admission units or controlled environments (Valimaki et al, 2008;Yakirevitch et al, 2010;Steinwachs et al, 2011;Anttila et al, 2012;van der Krieke et al, 2012;Gottlieb et al, 2013) and 6 were delivered remotely in real world settings via Internet enabled or mobile devices (Spaniel et al, 2008a;Glynn et al, 2010;Rotondi et al, 2010;Granholm et al, 2012;Spaniel et al, 2012;Alvarez-Jimenez et al, 2013). Table 1 depicts the characteristics of the selected studies.…”

“…Patients' mean age ranged from 20.3 to 50 years and supporters' mean age varied from 47 to 57 years. Seven studies recruited patients with chronic schizophrenia (Valimaki et al, 2008;Yakirevitch et al, 2010;Steinwachs et al, 2011;Anttila et al, 2012;Granholm et al, 2012;van der Krieke et al, 2012;Gottlieb et al, 2013), 4 studies recruited patients with chronic schizophrenia and their relatives/supporters (Spaniel et al, 2008a;Glynn et al, 2010;Rotondi et al, 2010;Spaniel et al, 2012), and 1 recruited young people with first-episode psychosis (FEP) (Alvarez-Jimenez et al, 2013). Four studies employed a randomized controlled design (Rotondi et al, 2010;Yakirevitch et al, 2010;Steinwachs et al, 2011;Spaniel et al, 2012), 2 studies included nonrandomized comparison groups (Glynn et al, 1990;Spaniel et al, 2008a), 4 used uncontrolled single-group pre-post designs (Anttila et al, 2012;Granholm et al, 2012;Alvarez-Jimenez et al, 2013;Gottlieb et al, 2013), and 2 tested the acceptability/usability of an online intervention in a single session (Valimaki et al, 2008;van der Krieke et al, 2012).…”

“…For those studies including comparison groups control interventions comprised treatment as usual (TAU) (Glynn et al, 1990;Spaniel et al, 2008a;Rotondi et al, 2010;Yakirevitch et al, 2010;Spaniel et al, 2012) and videos and information about schizophrenia treatment (Steinwachs et al, 2011). Five studies were conducted in the United States (Han et al, 2008;Glynn et al, 2010;Rotondi et al, 2010;Steinwachs et al, 2011;Granholm et al, 2012;Gottlieb et al, 2013), 5 in Europe (Spaniel et al, 2008a;Anttila et al, 2012;Spaniel et al, 2012;Välimäki et al, 2012;van der Krieke et al, 2012), 1 in Australia (Alvarez-Jimenez et al, 2013) and 1 in Israel (Yakirevitch et al, 2010).…”

“…No adverse events were reported during the study and 100% reported the intervention to be safe and confidential. Conversely, 30% did not actively engage with the online intervention, and only 20% completed at least 5 (out of 7) therapy modules during the study (Alvarez-Jimenez et al, 2013).…”

“…A 1-month uncontrolled pilot study showed that integrated online therapy, social networking and peer and expert moderation in a real world setting were associated with moderate to large reductions in depression in FEP patients (Alvarez-Jimenez et al, 2013) (Table 1). Additionally, 60% of patients reported increased perceived social connectedness and 55% felt empowerment in their recovery process after 1-month using the online platform.…”