Dror Ben?Zeev|Susan M. Kaiser|Izabela M. Krzos
Remote “Hovering” With Individuals With Psychotic Disorders and Substance Use: Feasibility, Engagement, and Therapeutic Alliance With a Text-Messaging Mobile Interventionist
Dartmouth College|Northwestern University|Thresholds
objective people serious mental illnesses substance abuse problems ie dual diagnosis constitute particularly challenging costly clinical group study evaluated feasibility acceptability novel model care mobile interventionist used mobile phone text messaging remotely monitor provide daily support individuals psychotic disorders substance use methods seventeen participants dual diagnosis enrolled 12week singlearm trial clinical social worker served mobile interventionist sent daily text messages participants privately owned mobile phones assess medication adherence clinical status mobile interventionist provided textmessage feedback support suggested various coping strategies flexibly response participants replies prompts end trial participants completed usability satisfaction measure two selfrated measures therapeutic alliance clinicians one version participants rated relationship mobile interventionist second version rated relationship communitybased treatment team results participants received average 139 text messages sd 375 mobile interventionist 12week trial average participants responded 87 mobile interventionists messages required reply 90 participants thought intervention useful rewarding helped effective productive lives participants assessments relationship mobile interventionist positive pairedsample ttest found therapeutic alliance ratings participants provided mobile interventionist significantly higher provided communitybased treatment team clinicians met regularly conclusions findings suggest textmessage hovering conducted successfully individuals psychotic disorders substance abuse developing cadre mobile interventionists specifically trained engage patients via mobile devices adhering ethical guidelines regulatory standards may effective way strengthen service delivery models improve patient outcomes reduce costs